Examining cultural displacement within two graphic novels: A comparative analysis

Abstract

This article analyses how two graphic novels convey the feeling of cultural displacement through their intentions, research methods and visual language. The two graphic novels discussed are Shaun Tan’s The Arrival and a student work by Margarita Louka, Foreign. This article will be accompanied by a discussion in the wider discourses surrounding migration, so that the graphic novels can be correctly contextualized. Even though the visual styles in The Arrival and Foreign are different, both use similar strategies such as defamiliarization, variation of atmosphere and a sympathetic main character to convey the feeling of cultural displacement.