The representations of solastalgia in Joe Sacco's Paying the Land.

Details

Supervisors

Bragard, Véronique

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée: sciences et métiers du livre

Abstract

Comics are known for their entertaining nature and complex visual-verbal form. It is precisely the latter that enables the genre to tackle more serious issues such as climate change. In the context of climate change, solastalgia relates to the loss of the sense of place because of environmental disturbances. This dissertation covers the representations of solastalgia in Joe Sacco's comics Paying the Land (2020). This graphic novel relates the testimonies of the Denes, a tribe from North Canada territories, in dealing with the intrusions of colonials on their land. Hence, this dissertation is divided into three parts. The first one investigates the natural causes of solastalgia in terms of massive extractions and climate change. The second analyzes the deep-rooted causes of solastalgia in the representations of the direct and slow violence of colonialism and neocolonialism. The last part discusses how the Denes aims to cope with solastalgia, especially through forms of resilience.