La construction en bande dessinée / Construction in comic books
The talk at the seminar La construction en bande dessinée held at the École Normale Supérieure, in Paris, examined the similarities and differences between two approaches to researching and narrating construction workers' lived experiences. In the graphic novel The Alcazar (2022), author researcher Simon Lamouret "tell[s] the story using the facts that [he] observed, and the data that [he] collected"— producing an evocative narrative and nuanced social critique of a Bangalore construction site. My own research in Pune, India, uses historical building site photographs in conversations with Wadar caste construction workers to document the contributions and working conditions of these workers and their ancestors.
Both approaches, as they move from visual observation to narration, are impacted by a range of subjectivities. How do drawings and photographs communicate these differently, and where do they overlap? How do character dialogues relate to oral testimonies and written text? What emerges when narrative and visual elements intersect?