Socialist Thought and Comics Form : Narrative and Rhetorical Strategies in Kate Evans' Red Rosa
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The main aim of this article is to take a first step towards an analysis of the relationship between the medium of comics and socialist thought, by analyzing the Canadian-British comics artist Kate Evans’ graphic biography of the socialist politician and theorist Rosa Luxemburg, Red Rosa. A central argument is that the medium of comics invites certain narrative and rhetorical strategies that have specific effects for the interpretation of left-wing ideas. One example of this is that in comparison with Luxemburg’s works, persuasion in Red Rosa relies more on ēthos- and pathos than on logos. Another example is that Evans often gives priority to verbal discourse, and that she self-reflexively highlights the narratorial aspects of her visual representation. Thus, Evans’ use of comics form conditions her representation of left-wing ideas and ideals, at the same time as those ideas and ideals can function as catalysts for the development of new narrative and rhetorical strategies.