Youth, Comics and Trauma in Transitional Justice

Whether as targets of violence, or as violent protagonists, the agency and experiences of youth in transitional contexts is an important, yet often neglected, aspect of transitional justice. Yet, what are the best ways that the experiences of youth, and in particular their encounters with trauma, can be represented to capture their multiple roles in both violence and peace? This book review turns to three graphic novels to interrogate the extent to which they open up new ways of recording the complex experiences of youth in conflict and transition. Graphic novels are focused on specifically as a medium that transitional justice mechanisms (such as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission) have turned to as part of youth outreach initiatives, and, as acclaimed novels such as Maus suggest, a site which can critically engage with the theme of trauma in ways that opens up disruptive possibilities for political engagement and the emergence of narratives of transition.

This article has been accepted for publication in International Journal of Transitional Justice Published by Oxford University Press.