Constructing Muslim Identity in American Comic Books and Graphic Novels: Representation and Propaganda

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the representation of Muslim characters in American comic books and graphic novels, focusing on the role that historic and contemporary geopolitical relations between America and the Arab and Muslim world performs in the propagation and challenge of orientalist stereotypes. This examination begins with a historical overview of the origins and instruments of propaganda and counterpropaganda and the representation of those deemed “the other” within sequential narratives to establish the foundation for a comparative case study of pre-9/11 comic books featuring Iranian and Iraqi characters, such as Salima Baranizar in Blue Beetle (1991) and Millennium (1987) and The Veil in X-Men universe comics in 1991, alongside post-9/11 graphic novels Holy Terror (2011) and Johnny Jihad (2003). Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics provides the primary analytical tools and the theoretical framework to assess the language of comics. This includes icons (representational images), symbols (images that embody ideas), colours (for emotions), and, formal and/or structural components such as the gutter and panels. Vanessa Van Edwards and Hailey Van Braam contribute layers and depth to the examination through analysis of body language and colour psychology, respectively. In addition to visual semiotics, the dissertation also interrogates narrative structure, such as conflict and characters, and iconographic aspects, that communicate cultural stereotypes. This study highlights both evolving portrayals and the persistence of stereotypical conventions in the depictions of Muslim characters in sequential narratives. It argues that the post-9/11 period marks a shift towards counterpropaganda that functions to confront orientalist stereotypes so prevalent and normalized in pre-9/11 texts. This investigation illuminates how progress is neither linear nor binary, but how a text may simultaneously resist and reproduce stereotypes; how authorship may impact representation of groups to which creators do not belong, independent of intent; that the oppressor/oppressed dichotomy can legitimize narratives of righteous hatred; and that sequential narratives both influence and are influenced by broader currents of popular culture.