Why — Are — We — So — Involved?

Abstract

Roland Bleiker opens Aesthetics and World Politics by asking: ‘Is it trivial, or perhaps even irresponsible, to explore aesthetic themes at a time when the world is engulfed by war, genocide, terrorism, poverty, climate change and financial turmoil?’1 He declines this accusation and strongly supports aesthetic engagement in world politics. His question would seem to be even more pertinent in connection with comics and graphic novels, seemingly entertainment par excellence. Accordingly, the International Studies Association, in an innovative panel at the 49th Annual Convention in San Francisco, explored the role of cartoons and graphic novels by asking whether comics are frivolous entertainment or potent tools of communication.2 A couple of years earlier, in 2005 and 2006, the violent crisis emanating from the publication of controversial cartoons in Denmark had shown that comics are politically powerful tools occasionally triggering dynamics that, once unleashed, are difficult to control. The ‘Danish cartoon crisis’ — the instrumentalization of cartoons for political ends — sparked important debates on such issues as freedom of speech and its limits, artistic autonomy, journalistic responsibility, and the ethics of publishing. Regarding most of these questions, the jury is still out. Even among graphic artists, it is disputed whether or not these cartoons should have been published, and if so, in what form.