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Image description: A comic book style explosion with the words “graphic ethnography” at the center of it bursts from a back ground of radiating orange stripes. Stars and clouds also burst out around the circumference of the explosion. iStock
Sharpen your pencil. Design your panels. Craft your dialogue.
This summer, the Anthropology News magazine turns comic. We will look at the growing interest in using drawings as ethnographic fieldwork method and the process of transforming research into comic forms and graphic novels. We’ll explore the creative work of anthropologist-cartoonists and imaginative collaborations between anthropologists and cartoonists. From sequential graphic narrative to line to gutter we’ll probe how graphic ethnography can support anthropological analysis, help us tell engaging and challenging anthropology stories to broad publics, and aid us in working through and reflecting on difficult topics and experiences.
We welcome pitches that tell anthropology stories on any topic in comic form or that tell us about the process, possibilities, and challenges of creating comic work. We’re particularly looking to show an international range and reach of graphic ethnography, and seek pieces in full comic-strip form or that use elements of graphic work to tell their stories.
Please send a 250-word pitch that outlines the story and main argument of your piece, examples of your graphic work, and a 50-word author bio to [email protected] by March 15, 2021.
First drafts will be due by April 9 and go through a developmental edit with the AN editor. Comic contributions will be four to six pages of the print magazine. Feature essay or story contributions with elements of graphic work will be 1,600–2,000 words. Final pieces will publish in the July/August print magazine and on the AN website.