From Muslim to Muselmann: Muted prisoner in Guantanamo comics

Abstract

This article focuses on two Guantanamo comics, namely Tubiana and Franc’s Guantánamo Kid, and Mirk’s Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World’s Most Infamous Prison to highlight a shift in comics in depictions of the Muslim Other, from the long-established trope of the ‘dangerous jihadi’ to the aggrieved, muted figure of the Muselmann. Subjected to torture, enhanced interrogation techniques, degradation and humiliation, the abject Muslim prisoner at Guantanamo gradually transforms into the ‘Muselmann’ – a term employed in Holocaust narratives to refer to the cadaveric and zombified existence of the broken prisoner. The characterization of the Muselmann in these two comics not only challenges the notion of the active, sinister, Muslim radical repeatedly featured in Western comics, but also demonstrates the vital role the medium plays in representing those who have lost the capacity to speak for themselves. As witness accounts, both texts aim to ‘unmute’ the Muselmann, even though their depiction of the abusive regimes in Gitmo is neither a redemptive nor an empowering act. Consequently, it falls on the comics reader to bear witness to the atrocities suffered by the Muselmann – not necessarily to restore justice, but at a minimum to recognize the Muslim prisoner’s humanity.