Construction of the Pacification Through Comics in Africa

Art Style | Art & Culture International Magazine

Abstract

There are many armed conflicts, political violence, protests, rebellions, barbarism and putsches in Africa. In some African countries, these violent actions threaten urban contexts, so they are always at risk of spreading from one territory (or country) to another. They have become lasting and perennial. Consequently, they affect not only the national and continental security, but also the economy, the political stability, the social quietude and the community production. At the continental level, 13 countries faced armed conflict account for almost 90 percent of the 25 million people displaced. To face the security and conflict issues which are strongly present in Africa, a variety of initiatives are being implemented to stabilize areas in crisis. If the peace actors are numerous and extensively studied, this article rather offers an analytical reading of the contributions and the intervention of a peace actor who is less documented. They are cartoonists. Cartoonists are indeed dynamic actors who are actively involved in dealing with issues of protest, insecurity, violence and conflict. They are artists, mostly from urban areas, who use their comics as a committed artistic expression. To this end, this research deals with the construction of the pacification through comics in Africa. It is therefore concluded that this pacification is built by speeches and actions. On the one hand, the speeches are founded by the discourses of “transition of the arts” and securitization. On the other hand, the actions focus on the coalition of cartoonists and the institutional partnerships. To carry out this research, we mobilize the theory of constructivism to highlight the process operationalized by the comics to contribute to the pacification in Africa. Our methodology is based on documentation (speeches, reports, artworks), participant and non- participant observation and interviews with peace actors (youth association for peace and security experts), and cartoonists.