When you think about the times you have travelled in your lifetime… would you have considered yourself a tourist or a traveller?
Were you wearing the classic “I ♥ [insert destination here]” T-shirt, a disposable camera around your neck, a bucket hat, sandals and socks?
Okay… maybe a lil’ stereotyped.
But how do you travel?
Do you spend the most of your time observing or do you prefer to experience things for yourself?
Do you stick out? Blend in?
Do you pay attention to the people and your surroundings? Are you aware and respectful of cultural norms?
Do you complain about the food, the weather conditions or the hassles that come with your journey? Or instead of comparing your new destination to the comforts of your home… are you curious? Do you have an open mind?
Do you come home with a thinner wallet, a dark tan and souvenirs or do you come home with new scrapes and bruises, new friends and countless stories to share when you return home?
In the graphic narrative ‘Safe Area Gorazde’, Joe Sacco depicts himself as being different from other journalists during the Bosnian war in the approach he took with his journalistic technique. On the first image on page five of the graphic narrative, Joe Sacco first arrives in Gorazde surrounded by a dozen of other journalists and a buzz of excitement circulating amongst the locals of the village.
On page six, we see two different journalistic techniques and the distinct contrast between them. In the first image, we see an extremely busy scene: outside, journalists, cameras, microphones and dozens of local citizens observing the action. In the second image, we are taken inside one of the locals’ living rooms. Sacco draws himself on the edge of the couch and displays his openness with a huge grin plastered on his face and a posture displaying his attentiveness. He was full of curiosity and keen to listen to all of the personal stories that were being shared from those around him.
Sacco was a perfect example of a true traveller as opposed to a tourist.
Throughout his time in Bosnia, Sacco immerses himself in the culture, the history and the reality of the war-torn town of Gorazde. Rather than observing from afar or through the lens of a camera, Sacco directly places himself in the shoes of the locals. After returning to Gorazde through the ‘blue road’, Sacco states that “It’d been [his] turn to understand how much more than a few kilometres of road separated [him] from [the citizens of Gorazde]” (Sacco, 2000, p. 67).
In order to immerse himself even more, Sacco attends many get-togethers, parties and even “The Piramida”-Gorazde’s own discotheque. At one of these parties, Sacco meets a man named Edin who turns out to be Sacco’s “main man, [his] main man” (Sacco, 2000, p. 8). Edin serves as Sacco’s personal tour guide and sense of insight into the harsh reality of the town of Gorazde. Sacco returns to Gorazde three different times and each time, he said, “[he] sought out Edin to help [him] put the pieces of the story together” (Sacco, 2000, p. 16).
As a journalist, it is often required to do a significant amount of observing. Joe Sacco accomplished not only this but was also able to do some of his own experiencing by immersing himself in the culture of the village and getting to know the local citizens as dear friends. Sacco certainly wasn’t wearing an “I ♥ Gorazde” T-shirt but instead, he took home with him his ♥ of the people of Gorazde along with his memories, connections and various stories in order to create this graphic narrative that readers such as you and I are reading today.
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