Videotaped Interviews, Graphic Novels and Comics as Testimony

Graphic Novels as a Survivor-Centred Testimonies

Traditional video interviews have long been used to document survivor testimonies, powerfully documenting physical and visual cues, but they also pose significant ethical challenges. In many authoritarian regimes, the camera is not merely a recording device—it is an instrument of control and coercion. Dr. Üngör described his research with torture survivors in Syria, where videotaped interviews are a source of anxiety for survivors.

In contrast, graphic novels as a tool of engagement offer a more ethical and survivor-centred approach to testimony collection because they do not require direct visual identification and create a safer space for survivors to share their experiences without fear of retribution. Additionally, graphic narratives allow for a more nuanced representation of memory, accommodating fragmented recollections that may not fit within the linear constraints of video interviews. “For a lot of survivors, the violence is often remembered in terms of flashes,” Dr. Üngör noted. “The frames, for example, that graphic novels make often represent such flashes of memory.” Another gap graphic novels fill is their ability to depict stories of extreme violence, many of which lack photographic or video documentation.

Gently Leaving Space for Imagination Through Graphic Novels

Toward Trauma-Informed Approaches to Interviewing and Creating Graphic Novels

Another shortcoming of videotaped interviews is the potential for retraumatizing survivors. However, this risk is also present in the creation of graphic novels, since, as Dr. Klein noted, “to write a graphic novel, you still need to know their story. You still have to interview them in one way or another.”

Dr. Üngör responded by explaining that retraumatization “…depends on three elements: the society in which somebody is placed, is living in, or feels safe or not; the personality of the survivor; and the interviewer who approaches the survivor to elicit the story.” Researchers and graphic novelists must be aware of their sociopolitical constraints and affordances, including privileges and biases, and whether survivors have developed avoidance due to trauma or resilience as a result of post-traumatic growth.

Dr. Klein shared that at the Global Reporting Centre at UBC, there’s an emerging movement toward empowerment journalism, which counters “top-down, outsider-in, tell me your trauma story on camera” approaches. As Dr. Üngör put it, constructing survivors’ stories in a trauma-informed way requires creating empowering spaces where people are able to curate and narrate their own stories. During some of his interviews with Syrians, he would sometimes see such empowerment in safe, one-on-one settings or small groups, where survivors “very often would pull out pieces of paper and a pen and start drawing, for example, to explain how the torture implement worked, or how it looked.”

A Shift Toward Ethical and Survivor-Centred Testimony

Providing survivors with multiple modes of expression, including drawing, can offer a more compassionate and flexible approach to storytelling. Referring to these modes of meaning-making, Dr. Üngör noted, “They are not necessarily zero-sum. It is not that one is good, the other one is bad.” Graphic novels as a critical tool of inquiry offer a survivor-centred, ethical alternative to traditional videotaped testimonies because they navigate ethical challenges posed by cameras, allowing survivors to retain agency in shaping their narratives, and create opportunities for more trauma-informed storytelling. As Dr. Klein concluded, “we all need to have a responsibility to find new ways” to a more humane and respectful approach to documenting survivor experiences.

“Why Comics?” Exploring the Power of Collaborative Counter-Documentary Approach to Representing Survivor Memories

Visual arts-based methodologies, like comics, hold transformative potential for engaging with overlooked histories, sometimes traumatic memories, and the complex process of remembering. In the webinar “Why Comics?”, Dr. Véronique Sina and Dr. Fransiska Louwagie, alongside Dr. Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam, shed light on the unique affordances of comics as a legitimate medium for research and storytelling. They emphasized that comics do not need to be “upgraded” by being called graphic novels, graphic narratives, or autographics in English, and bande dessinée or bédé in French. As Dr. Biz Nijdam synthesized their response, “It's a little bit of advocacy, a little bit of anti-capitalist work, I think, to embrace the term comics.” Further exploring their insights, this toolkit chapter focuses on comics as a counter-documentary approach to representing fragmented memories, and as a collaboration of participatory, ethical, engaging and interdisciplinary nature.

Counter-Documentary Approach to Representing Fragmented Memories

The Collaborative Nature of Comics: Participatory, Ethical, Engaging and Interdisciplinary

One of the most compelling aspects of comics is their collaborative potential. Dr. Louwagie noted that the medium often involves a dialogue between the artist, the survivor and sometimes their community, creating a space for co-creation grounded in mutual respect. This collaborative process is central to participatory action research projects like But I Live, where graphic novelists work closely with survivors and community partners to craft their narratives ethically. The idea of collaboration also extends to readers, as their understanding of survivor narratives may be facilitated through “the conversation between artists and survivors.” By offering readers a space to process, comics become a medium of dialogue rather than a one-sided narrative.

Moreover, comics can also be collaborative in their production process, involving pencilers, inkers, colourists, and letterers. This teamwork mirrors the interdisciplinary nature of comic studies itself, which draws from fields such as media studies, literature, and art history. As Dr. Sina pointed out, “We really need interdisciplinary work coming from different disciplines, different perspectives, different backgrounds, because, in fact, I know nobody who had the possibility to study comics as an academic discipline. We all came from another background.” This interdisciplinary approach is essential to understand the full potential of comics as a medium for art-based research, and like Dr. Biz Nijdam highlighted, “to theorize the work of comics.”

Why Comics?

So, why comics? The short answer is “to keep remembering.” For researchers interested in visual arts-based methodologies, comics offer a versatile and inclusive medium for critically and ethically co-constructing narratives of survivors whose histories are complex, fragmented, or silenced. Through stories like But I Live and Deuxième Génération: Ce Que Je N’ai Pas Dit A Mon Pere, comics have established themselves as a legitimate and powerful form of commemoration.

The Art of Comics-Engaged Research for Connecting and Uncovering Hidden Stories

Contemporary critical art-based research methodologies—such as comics which creatively blend visual and textual storytelling—invite us to rethink traditional ways of producing and sharing knowledge. Drawing from their comics-engaged research expertise and projects, emerging scholars Raey Costain and Cal Smith demonstrate how this methodology can serve as a medium for connection, care, and the preservation of untold histories. Additionally, they position comics as a form of graphic medicine, offering a way to think through embodied experiences.

Researchers are encouraged to engage with comics as a way to document and reflect on what Dionne Brand (as cited by Cal Smith) calls “unacknowledged histories,” which “continue to produce symptoms.” By shedding light on personal and cultural histories, particularly those from marginalized communities, researchers can enrich our understanding of the past while mitigating the perpetuation of painful symptoms. It is essential, however, to handle creators’ work with ethical care, ensuring that research involving personal or community histories always prioritizes respect and collaboration.

Comics, as discussed by Raey Costain and Cal Smith, offer a versatile and powerful medium for art-based research. They lend themselves well to engaging deeply with participants, navigating ethical complexities, and uncovering hidden histories. Researchers interested in comics-engaged research may want to embrace comics’ capacity for care, connection, and advocacy to tell stories in a more inclusive and empathetic manner.