The Everyday Artefacts of World Politics: Why Graphic Novels, Textiles and Internet Memes Matter
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The everyday artefacts of world politics: why graphic novels, textiles and internet memes matter in world politics Caitlin Hamilton A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences December 2016 3 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Hamilton First name: Caitlin Other name/s: n/a Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: Social Sciences Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences Title: The everyday artefacts of world politics: why graphic novels, textiles and internet memes matter in world politics Abstract World politics has conventionally been a realm of ideas, instead of things. While ideas matter, the paucity of research into the artefacts of world politics and particularly the everyday artefacts of world politics represents a gap in how we know the world. By developing a form of artefact analysis specifically designed to study the things of world politics, I examine what three types of everyday artefacts – graphic novels, textiles and internet memes – can tell us about world politics. Graphic novels, for example, show how conflict and the everyday co-exist in a curious mash-up of banality and violence; they also complicate narratives of world politics with which we may be more familiar, highlight the fundamental importance that everyday makers play in the lived experience of world politics, and they have significant parallels with the research processes involved in producing scholarship. Textiles are a vehicle for everyday makers to explore and express their ethnic and national identities and can function as a form of documentation. Some everyday makers of these artefacts have also explored innovative ways of physically incorporating the everyday into their work, while others have used the medium to subvert dominant representations of weapons. Finally, internet memes have been used as tools for grassroots political lobbying as well as to challenge representations of a variety of actors in world politics. They also, however, reproduce some of the problematic logics that can be found in more conventional sources of world politics and the humour that drives internet memes may have significant ethical implications. Taking these everyday artefacts seriously as sources of world politics, I argue, allows us to better know the world that we study, the people that inhabit it, and the lived experience of world politics. 1 2 4 Acknowledgements First and foremost, recognition and a huge thank you are due to Laura Shepherd, who has been a truly wonderful supervisor. Her engagement with my ideas and feedback on drafts has spurred this dissertation on, as did her to-be-ignored-at-one’s-peril ‘Spidey sense’, which helpfully suggested that the ideas that ultimately formed the basis for this research were worth pursuing. Her dedication to my work never wavered (even when I was feeling pretty fed up with it all), and she has shared ideas and contacts and opportunities with such generosity. I have learnt so much working for and with Laura, as I have studying under her tutelage. Many thanks are also owed to Penny Griffin, my co-supervisor, for her unending enthusiasm for my research and encouragement, particularly when it came to wrangling the methods chapter and honing the literature review. I am incredibly grateful for her faith in the (many iterations of the) project and her genuine interest in my progress and emotional wellbeing. Will Clapton became a part of the project, first as a member of my annual progress review panel and then as a dissertation mascot, conference buddy and lunch companion. While I know that my woeful geography skills and my lack of appreciation of popular culture that features clans, shields or dragons prove to be a constant disappointment to him, he has nonetheless had the good sense to see past my deficiencies, and I appreciate his friendship a great deal. I am fortunate to call Lucy Evans my wonderful friend as well as the proofreader of my dissertation. The pages that follow have benefited a great deal from her attention to detail, her thoughtful reflectiveness and her formidable wordsmithery. In short, I couldn’t have left my work in better hands. Thanks also to Liz Thurbon, for her thoughtful comments on some of my draft chapters as a member of my review panel and Nick Bisley for offering a fine introduction to the wonderful – and often strange – world of academic publishing in the form of the Australian Journal of International Affairs: a respectable distraction from the trials and tribulations of the PhD. I have been very lucky to have had such good company throughout all stages of the dissertation process; it has been a great source of comfort to have people who are also in the midst of PhD research to share the times of hope, the times of joy, the times of frustration and the times of despair. Nick Apoifis, Emilie Auton, Lucy Hall, Zahra Stardust, Kavitha Suthanthiraraj: thank you for the feedback, the talked-through muddles, the encouragement, the enthusiasm and, above all, the giggles. And to everyone else who I have had the joy of getting to know over the past few years: Holi Birman, Emma Cannen, Federica Caso, Rhys Crilley, Mariam Farida, Dominic Fitzsimmons, Maia Gunn Watkinson, Bec Lowe, Steve McGlinchey, Alyce McGovern, Stephen McGuinness, Alex Moulis, Jamie Roberts, Saara Särmä and Ian Zucker. What good eggs you all are! I have also been very lucky to have such supportive friends in the ‘real world’ outside of academia, who have made this whole PhD lark much more bearable. Elly James, 5 Kevin Kwan, Jim Milne, Zaky Orya, Chrissy Poole, Mia Sheldon, Nikki Strong-Harris, Anna Yanatchkova: your company has been a saviour from the isolation and drudgery that inevitably accompany the dissertation-writing process. You have all shown just the right level of interest in my dissertation progress, and have developed a most admirable sense of when it would be more sensible to talk about anything but my dissertation progress. I hold all of our chats and shared meals very dear indeed, and think the world of you all. Two other people that deserve a great deal of thanks are Rod Green and John Young, from my days at Mosman High School. The many hours of my formative years that I spent in your respective classrooms undoubtedly contributed to everything that I’ve done since, all of which have had words at their heart in one way or another. In addition to my gratitude, I probably also owe you both an apology – it is only since gaining some teaching experience myself that I have realised what remarkable teachers you were and what a pain I probably was at sixteen. I’m sorry for all of my whispering and note passing. Thanks to my family, particularly John, Margo, Richard, Kathryn, Mary and Jenna Bayliss, whose love and support means the world to me. If only the plane journey was that little bit shorter. This dissertation is also in loving memory of David Bayliss. Finally, above all and everyone, my thanks are due to my parents. As sad as I am that my dad, Keith Hamilton, isn’t here to share in this moment, his determination and unshakeable work ethic are two things that I really drew inspiration from day in and day out (with varying degrees of success) during the past few years. My mum, Jane Hamilton, was, however, here to see me through the PhD journey, and did so with great humour and patience. Thank you, Mum, for your unending love and support during some trying times as well as through the small victories. I am ever so grateful to you and love you very dearly indeed. 6 The images featured in the title page for Chapter 4 (Graphic Novels) are adapted from graphic novels that I analysed as part of this research project: from left to right, top to bottom: the umbrella captioned ‘The rainy season began suddenly’ is adapted from p. 128 of Guy Delisle’s Burma Chronicles (2010); the huddled mouse couple is adapted from the front cover of Art Speigelman’s The Complete Maus (2003); the smiley face with a blood splatter is a recurring motif in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen (1987) and is adapted from Chapter XII, p. 32; the young boy exclaiming ‘Aiee!’ is adapted from p. 185 of the second volume of Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen series (2004b [1972-1973]); and the black-and-white portrait of Marjane Satrapi as a young woman is adapted from Satrapi’s Persepolis (2008), p. 329. The text featured in the title page for Chapter 5 (Textiles) is modified version of a vintage pattern published by Biblioteca D.M.C in Punto di Marca 1A Serie, retrieved from The Antique Pattern Library, available online at http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/pub/PDF/DMCPuntodiMarca1.pdf, accessed 28 June 2016, and used under a Creative Commons License. The surrounding design is my own. Many thanks to Stephanie Rohr, who created the ‘Doge’ pattern that I stitched and reproduced with her permission as part of the title page for Chapter 6 (Internet Memes). The digital pattern is available for purchase via Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1010847851. The image accompanying the ‘study all the memes!’ part of the title page for Chapter 6 (Internet Memes) originally came from Allie Brosh’s blog post ‘Why I’ll never be an adult’, on her site Hyperbole and a Half (see http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html). It has since become the basis of a popular meme (see http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/x-all-the-y#fn1).