Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, I will reflect on the relationship between ethnography, comics and storytelling and focus on the methodological and epistemological implications of creating an ethnographically informed comic.

Paper long abstract:

Despite the growing body of theoretical reflections on the contributions of graphic anthropology to anthropological scholarship—both methodologically and epistemologically—there is still little discussion on the potential of comics as a medium to transform not only the way research is communicated but also how it is conceptualised, designed and conducted.

In this presentation, I will reflect on the relationship between ethnography, comics and storytelling, and explore how the process of making a comic can actively shape and enhance the research process, ultimately raising two key questions.

The first concerns narrative: how can ethnographic material be transformed into a compelling story, and what form should that story take? While this might appear to be a technical concern, it actually opens up two more questions: how is knowledge created? And how can the process of knowledge production itself be made visible through visual representation, storytelling and the creation of comics?