To understand Safe Area Gorazde's haunting, visceral and occasionally comical look, one has to understand Joe Sacco who interviewed the people living within the supposed "safe area." In Safe Area Gorazde, Sacco is a regular smartmouth who makes fun of his profession, makes fun of himself and how he is viewed by the Bosnians. Yet he always lets the Bosnians give out their experience rather than rant and rave out the experience himself. The balance between reporting and raw emotions exhibited by the Bosnians makes Safe Area Gorazde a harrowing and facinating read.So who is Mr. Sacco? Sacco was born in Malta and raised in Australia and the United States. Sacco acquired a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. He applies his practice of journalism into comics, an example being Palestine. Like Marjane Satrapi and Guy DeLisle, Sacco took comics out of the hands of costumed heroes and put them on the spotlight depicting real events.
Interviewing was a crucial aspect of storytelling in Safe Area Gorazde. Sacco talks about the interviewing process in an interview conducted by January magazine:
"What I've learned is that people like to talk about themselves. And that's kind of the advantage you have when you're asking people questions. Unless they're really trying to hide something, they like the fact that someone's asking them questions, and if you can ask them things they haven't been asked before, or ask stories that they have never told, they kind of really welcome it, and some see it as a real release, is what I find. So as far as what I've learned, I mean, you know, I think just with anything, experience helps you. You just become a little more subtle, and you learn how to, I guess, not so much follow a script of questions, but, like if someone says something, you just sort of continue on that thought, and see where it goes."
Sacco's latest book is Notes from a Defeatist, with includes political and autobiographical notes. Till then, Palestine and But I Like It (Which is about rock 'n roll) will be on my reading list.- Kristopher
1 comment:
While I very much enjoy reading superhero comics, the change we get in Persepolis, Pyongyang, and Safe Area Gorazde I think is very interesting. I like learning about what these people did while they were in other countries and the way they are able to portray the things that were happening there.
I do like the way Sacco makes fun of even himself in his book, it makes for a very interesting read.
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