Emotion and secrecy in Australian asylum-seeker comics: The politics of visual style

Abstract

This article examines two online comics about Australia’s policies of detaining asylum seekers, one created by the Australian government’s Customs and Border Protection Service (CBPS), and one published by the experimental journalism site The Global Mail. Through an analysis of the way online readers responded to these comics, this article shows how digital comics use visual style to imply particular kinds of relationships between their authors and their audience, while generating audience engagement through abstracted emotions and narrative gaps. These features have political dimensions, as in the CBPS’s comic, which elides crucial details about the government’s policies while suggesting (but never directly stating) its disregard for the human rights of asylum seekers, while The Global Mail’s comic uses a hand-drawn visual style to generate reader sympathy for the detainees and opposition to the government’s policies. Both comics use visual language to obfuscate key elements about the sources of their messages while also obscuring the voices of the refugees that their images represent.

Keywords

asylum seekers comics detention centres graphic novels political communication refugees visual narratives

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ali

(2014) Tony Abbott, Hazaras are not economic migrants. Hazara.net, 26 April. Available at: www.hazara.net/2014/04/tony-abbott-hazaras-are-not-economic-migrants/ (accessed viewed 30 April 2014).

Anderson

(1997) The nation and the origins of national consciousness. In: Guibernau

Rex

(eds) The Ethnicity Reader: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Migration. Cambridge: Polity, pp. 43–51.

Castle

(2015) Interview with Villawood creator Safdar Ahmed. Australian Comics Journal, 4 December.

CDH (2014) Asylum Comic. Available at: www.cdh-art.com/asylum.html (accessed 28 April 2014).

Chalk

(2014) Australia uses harsh graphic novel to ward off refugees. The Escapist, 11 February. Available at: www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132175-Australia-Uses-Harsh-Graphic-Novel-To-Ward-Off-Refugees (accessed 29 April 2014).

Claytor

(2015) Eye-tracking and comics. Elephant Eater Comics, 10 March. Available at: www.elephanteater.com/10724/eye-tracking-and-comics (accessed 30 March 2017).

CBPS (Australian Customs and Border Protection Service) (2013) A storyboard on people smuggling. 1 November. Available at: http://newsroom.customs.gov.au/photos/a-storyboard-on-people-smuggling (accessed 28 April 2014); currently available at: http://newsroom.border.gov.au/photos/a-storyboard-on-people-smuggling (accessed 11 April 2017).

CBPS (Australian Customs and Border Protection Service) (2014) Operation Sovereign Borders, 10 April 2014 (Dari translation of the Operation Sovereign Borders press materials). Available at: http://www.customs.gov.au/site/Translations/Dari.asp (accessed 28 April 2014).

Cox

(2014) Refugees angered by government’s graphic novel campaign. Available at: www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/13/refugees-angered-governments-graphic-novel-campaign (accessed 28 April 2014).

10.

Davidson

(2013) ‘By boat, no visa’ ads to deter asylum seekers could cost $37m. The Guardian, 2 August. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/02/asylum-seeker-ads-could-cost-37m (accessed 28 April 2014).

11.

DeptofAustralia (2014) Department Of Australia Immigration Comic. Imgur, 1 March. Available at: http://imgur.com/a/WPW7p?gallery (accessed 28 April 2014).

12.

Dix

Pollock

Toubaji

(2015) A perilous journey: Khalid’s flight to Europe from Syria – an illustrated account. The Guardian, 11 November.

13.

Duncan

Taylor

Stoddard

(2015) Creating Comics as Journalism, Memoir and Nonfiction. Abingdon: Routledge.

14.

El Refaie

(2012) Autobiographical Comics: Life Writing in Pictures. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

15.

Farrell

(2014) Australia’s asylum policies repeatedly criticised by UN officials at conference. The Guardian, 23 April. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/23/australias-asylum-policies-repeatedly-criticised-by-un-officials-at-conference (accessed 28 April 2014).

16.

Fenty

Houp

Taylor

(2004) Webcomics: the influence and continuation of the comix revolution. ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies 1(2).

17.

Fisher

(2014) Telling a guard’s story. Broadsheet, 20 February, Art & Design section. Available at: https://www.broadsheet.com.au/sydney/art-and-design/article/global-mail-guards-story (accessed 11 April 2017).

18.

Fitzgerald

(2015) Syrian refugees draw their lives for me every day. This comic shows what they taught me. Vox, 21 September. Available at: www.vox.com/2015/9/21/9345561/syrian-refugee-comic (accessed 17 October 2016).

19.

Fletcher

(2014) Refugees denied legal rights and deported. Green Left Weekly. Available at:www.greenleft.org.au/node/55886 (accessed 28 April 2014).

20.

Fletcher

(2014) Bad taste border protection comic puts cruelty in the picture. AusOpinion, 12 February. Available at: http://ausopinion.com/2014/02/12/bad-taste-border-protection-comic-puts-cruelty-in-the-picture/ (accessed 20 April 2014).

21.

Freinkel

(2006) Book review: Art Spiegelman: In the Shadow of No Towers. Visual Communication Quarterly 13(4): 248–255.

22.

Grant

(2012) Blue. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions.

23.

Grant

(2015) The Serco story … short-circuited. Walkley Foundation, 5 March. Available at: www.walkleys.com/the-serco-story-short-circuited/ (accessed 20 March 2016).

24.

Groensteen

(2007) The System of Comics. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

25.

Groensteen

(2013) Comics and Narration, trans. Miller

. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.

26.

Guillaume

(2014) Australian government sends graphic message to asylum seekers. 28 April. Available at: www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/australian-government-sends-graphic-message-to-asylum-seeker (accessed 30 April 2014).

27.

Hekmat

(2014) The truth behind the government’s refugee comic. New Matilda, 12 February. Available at: https://newmatilda.com/2014/02/12/truth-behind-governments-refugee-comic (accessed 30 April 2014).

28.

Henke

(2013) Breaking through the clutter: the impact of emotions and flow on viral marketing. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal 17(2): 111–118.

29.

Human Rights Law Centre (2014) Can’t Flee, Can’t Stay: Australia’s Interception and Return of Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers. Melbourne, Vic.: Human Rights Law Centre.

30.

Humphrey

(2014) Beyond graphic novels: illustrated scholarly discourse and the history of educational comics. Media International Australia 151(1).

31.

Hunt

(@ppantsdown) (2014) My Version of the Government’s Graphic Novel for Refugees. Available at: https://twitter.com/PPantsdown/status/433441857285021696/photo/1 (accessed 28 April 2014).

32.

Isaacs

(2015) Are healthcare professionals working in Australia’s immigration detention centres condoning torture? Journal of Medical Ethics, 23 December.

33.

Kenny

(2013) Ads warn off smuggler-boat users. Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July. Available at: www.smh.com.au/national/ads-warn-off-smugglerboat-users-20130719-2qa0y.html (accessed 28 April 2014).

34.

Laughland

(2014a) Australian government targets asylum seekers with graphic campaign. The Guardian 11 February. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/government-launches-new-graphic-campaign-to-deter-asylum-seekers (accessed 28 April 2014).

35.

Laughland

(2014b) Despite elements of campaign being seemingly accidentally launched, neither Customs, DIBP, nor Morrison will comment. The Guardian, 11 February. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/government-launches-new-graphic-campaign-to-deter-asylum-seekers (accessed 28 April 2014).

36.

Laughland

(2014c) @matt_levinson have been asking department for hours to give any comment on it & will give nothing. Has defo not been officially launched. Available at: https://twitter.com/oliverlaughland/status/433138952673832961 (accessed 28 April 2014).

37.

Laughland

Davidson

Siddique

Owen

(2013) US admits contact with other countries over potential Snowden flights – as it happened. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/edward-snowden-asylum-live (accessed 30 April 2014).

38.

Lazarinis

Mazaraki

Verykios

Panagiotakopoulos

(2015) E-comics in teaching: evaluating and using comic strip creator tools for educational purposes. 10th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE). Available online at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7250261 (accessed 11 April 2017).

39.

Huynh

(2015) The Boat, SBS. Available at: www.sbs.com.au/theboat/ (accessed 17 October 2016).

40.

Leach

(2003) ‘Disturbing practices’: dehumanizing asylum seekers in the refugee ‘crisis’ in Australia, 2001–2002. Refuge 21(3): 25–33.

41.

MacFarlane

(2014) The medium and the message: comics about asylum seekers. The Conversation Available at: http://theconversation.com/the-medium-and-the-message-comics-about-asylum-seekers-23168 (accessed 29 April 2014).

42.

McCloud

(1993) Understanding Comics. New York: Paradox Press.

43.

McLuhan

(1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

44.

McNevin

(2007) The liberal paradox and the politics of asylum in Australia. Australian Journal of Political Science 42(4): 611–630.

45.

Malek

Agtmael

Neufeld

(2016) The road to Germany: $2400. Foreign Policy 216: 38.

46.

Martin

(2015) Stop the boats! Moral panic in Australia over asylum seekers. Continuum 29(3): 304–322.

47.

Mills

(2012) Fiction: ‘Blue’. Overland. Available at: https://overland.org.au/2012/04/fiction-blue/ (accessed 19 September 2014).

48.

Mummery

Rodan

(2007) Discursive Australia: refugees, Australianness, and the Australian public sphere. Continuum 21(3): 347–360.

49.

Murray

Ticher

Malik

Gabbatt

Laughland

(2013) Egyptian military government declares month-long emergency – as it happened. Available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/14/egypt-clear-cairo-sitins-live (accessed 30 April 2014).

50.

Nassar

(@Deptof Australia) (2014), ‘Hey Australian Customs, you forgot to put words in your comic book. I’ll help. Here’s page one’. Available at: https://twitter.com/DeptOfAustralia/status/433395098181574656 (accessed 4 April 2017).

51.

Nelson-Field

Riebe

Newstead

(2013) The emotions that drive viral video. Australasian Marketing Journal 21(4): 205–211.

52.

Suganuma

Sriprasertsuk

Kameyama

(2012) A consideration on comic reader’s behavior using gaze path and pupil size. IEICE technical report. Image Engineering 112(335): 139–144.

53.

Omori

Igaki

Ishii

Kurata

(2004) Eye catchers in comics: controlling eye movements in reading pictorial and textual media. Paper presented at the 28th International Congress of Psychology, Beijing, 8–13 August 2004. Available at: http://www.mi-as.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/2004ohmori.pdf (accessed 11 April 2017).

54.

Opltaz (2016) Information-comic ‘Stop Deportation’ is out now! Refugee Movement, 17 July. Available at: http://oplatz.net/information-comic-stop-deportation-is-out-now/ (accessed 17 October 2016).

55.

Piotrowski

(2014) The Federal Government uses a comic book to stop the boats. news.com.au www.news.com.au/national/the-federal-government-uses-a-comic-book-to-stop-the-boats/story-fncynjr2-1226824447746 (accessed 28 April 2014).

56.

Pollock

Froden

(2016) Fleeing into the unknown: a journey from Eritrea to England. Huffington Post, 18 February. Available at: http://testkitchen.huffingtonpost.com/Fleeing-into-the-Unknown/ (accessed 17 October 2016).

57.

‘Refugees’ (2014) Hazara.net. Available at: www.hazara.net/refugees/ (accessed 29 April 2014).

58.

Reynolds

(2014) The Global Mail faces closure after Wood withdraws funding/ Mumbrella, 30 January. Available at: https://mumbrella.com.au/global-mail-close-203061 (accessed viewed 11 April 2017).

59.

Roche

Quinn

(2014) Syria’s climate conflict’, The Nib, 22 June. Available at: https://medium.com/the-nib/syrias-climate-conflict-43559b8ec211 (accessed 11 April 2017).

60.

Scott

(2012) Pat Grant: ‘Blue’. Australian Book Review. Available at: www.australianbookreview.com.au/component/k2/69-april-2012/861-pat-grant-blue (accessed 19 September 2014).

61.

‘Sri Lankan child’ (2013) Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Newsroom. Originally available at: http://newsroom.customs.gov.au/photos/sri-lankan-child?page_size=60&page=3 (accessed 28 April 2014); currently available at: http://newsroom.border.gov.au/photos/sri-lankan-child (accessed 11 April, 2017).

62.

The Global Mail (2014) Serco is the private company … Facebook, 7 February. Available at www.facebook.com/TheGlobalMail (accessed 30 April 2014).

63.

Thurman

(2016) Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees: why a national hero is ignoring an international crisis. The Nib, 1 August. Available at: https://thenib.com/myanmar-s-rohingya-refugees (accessed 17 October 2016).

64.

UN General Assembly (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Available at: www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ (accessed 22 March 2017).

65.

Wake

(2014) Graeme Wood’s Global Mail felled by financial reality. The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/graeme-woods-global-mail-felled-by-financial-reality-22581 (accessed 19 September 2014).

66.

Wallman

(2015) Brick by brick: is this really Europe? A comic from Eastern Europe’s border camps. www.sbs.com.au, 17 December. Available at: www.sbs.com.au/news/feature/brick-brick-comic-eastern-europes-border-crisis (accessed 17 October 2016).

67.

Warner

(2015) The refugee crisis: what you need to know [A comic infographic]. The Lowdown, 28 September. Available at: https://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/09/28/searching-for-safety-europes-refugee-crisis-explained-comic-infographic/ (accessed 17 October 2016).

68.

Watson

(2014) Statement by legal scholars regarding the situation concerning Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/statement-by-legal-scholars-regarding-the-situation-concerning-sri-lankan-asylum-seekers-28891 (accessed 16 July 2014).

69.

Whyte

(2014a) Comic warning to asylum seekers slammed by human rights advocates. Sydney Morning Herald, 13 February. Available at: www.smh.com.au/national/comic-warning-to-asylum-seekers-slammed-by-human-rights-advocates-20140212-32iea.html (accessed 22 March 2017).

70.

Whyte

(2014b) New asylum seeker campaign ‘distasteful’ and ‘embarrassing’. Sydney Morning Herald, 12 February.Available at: www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/new-asylum-seeker-campaign-distasteful-and-embarrassing-20140212-32h04.html (accessed 22 March 2017).

71.

xbpress (2014) Mapping the deterrence supply chain: the Afghanistan storyboard. Crossborder Operational Matters. Available at: http://xborderoperationalmatters.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/deterrence-supply-chain/ (accessed 28 April 2014).