1990eko hamarkadaren hasieran, Joe Sacco izeneko komikigile gazte batek Palestinara bidaiatu zuen, eta han bizitakoak komikiaren forma artistikopean dokumentatzea erabaki zuen. Merkatuetan paseoan ibili zen, presoei elkarrizketak egin zizkien, manifestariekin solasean aritu zen, nekazariekin bazkaldu zuen, ospitaleetako gaixoak bisitatu zituen, eta, finean, Gaza eta Zisjordaniako herritarren bizitzan eta kulturan murgildu zen.

Esperientzia zirraragarri haren ondorioz sortu zen Palestina, Saccoren aurreneko kazetaritza-lan handia, eta azken urteotan argitaratu den obra politiko eta historikorik onenetakoa. Nobela grafiko hau kazetaritza berriaren oinordeko zuzena da, eta komiki-kazetaritza deitutako korrontearen funtsezko pieza: dokumentu etnografiko aparta, garai hartako kronika garratza eta denboran gehiegi luzatzen ari den gatazka bati buruzko ikuspegi ezin pertsonalagoa izateaz gain, zinez liburu baliagarri eta esanguratsua da Ekialde Ertainak geopolitika garaikidean jokatzen duen eta garai hartan jokatzen zuen rola ulertzeko.

Palestina Art Spiegelmanen Maus sarituarekin konparatu izan da, Saccoren lan hau trebezia eta distira handiz barneratzen delako sozialki eta politikoki oso delikatua den gai batean, komikigintzaren mugetatik irten gabe. Edizio honek Edward Said idazle, kritikari eta historialari ospetsuak idatzitako hitzaurrea ere badu; hain zuzen ere, Said Ekialde Ertaineko gatazkaren inguruko aditurik errespetatuenetakoa da mundu osoan.

Obra honek American Book Award saria irabazi zuen 1996an

Important document describing everyday life inside Palestine mostly from the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the early 1990s. The author is sympathetic and makes many friends, living with them often in cramped and squalid conditions. B&W throughout. ( )

Joe Sacco’s Palestine draws upon the cartoonist’s experiences in Israeli-occupied Palestine near the end of the first Intifada in the early 1990s. Drawing upon both his background in journalism and years of work as a comics creator and commentator, Sacco works to capture the complexity of Palestine and the varying viewpoints among the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, deliberately commenting on himself as an outsider as he seeks to expand the American understanding of the events currently occurring in those regions. He not only endeavors to relay the different personal narratives and opinions that people share with him, but shows how his own presence can affect events, either by drawing suspicion or experiencing roadblocks, skirmishes in the streets, funerals and weddings. Sacco uses his work to show how the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza are a form of modern-day colonialism. While some Israelis encourage him to do similar research in their region, he points out that the Israeli narrative dominates the discourse in the West and his goal with the project was to learn about the Palestinian perspective. Sacco concludes, “That’s the thing about coming to the Holy Land or Palestine or Israel or whatever you want to call it… no one who knows what he’s come here looking for leaves without having found it” (pg. 280).

Sacco’s artistic style resembles many of the underground comix artists of the 1960s – 1990s, in particular Robert Crumb, Gary Dumm, Greg Budgett, and Brian Bram. His caricatures of faces successfully capture the emotions of his interview subjects, ranging from suspicion to grief, anger to fatigue, joy to malaise. In addition to focusing on facial emotions, Sacco brings to vivid life the physical conditions of the refugee camps, bombed-out cities, and demolished villages. He represents both the scale of the destruction in large splash-pages and the way people try to eke out some comfort amid the deprivations of soldiers and the weather in tighter panels. His use of black-and-white linework ensures that Tel Aviv’s comparative cleanliness and sleek architecture stand out all the more in juxtaposition to the Palestinian refugee camps when he visits Israel at the end of the graphic novel.

Sacco refers to Edward Said’s “The Question of Palestine” as “one of the reasons” he traveled to Palestine (pg. 177) and, in a nice connection, Said later wrote an introduction for this complete graphic novel edition. This edition collects all nine issues that Sacco originally published individually. ( )

Clave para entender un poco ( )

https://shawjonathan.com/2022/03/19/joe-saccos-palestine/ ( )