Perspectives on Palestine: Architecture and Narrative in Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza

Joe Sacco’s graphic narratives have received widespread academic attention in recent years, yet much of the discussion has focused on the extent to which his works challenge and subvert mainstream journalistic practices. This article seeks to offer a new perspective on Sacco’s work by examining his graphic narrative Footnotes in Gaza (2009) in terms of its engagement with the architectural context of Gaza and the extent to which this context impinges upon and relates to narrative practices. While recounting the historical events of 1956 in the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, Sacco’s work also maps Gaza’s present day circumstances, revealing how conceptual notions of historicity and political identity are understood and determined in spatial and visual terms.