As Graphic Novels have slowly moved into the public psyche as a legitimate literary form, it was only a matter of time that such a work earn a place on a sensor’s list as other books have for centuries.
To those who keep insisting that comics are just “funny-books”, disposable, infantile and not worthy of seriousness, should take note that one Mr. Saleh al Derbashy in Egypt does not think so.
Cited as an attorney in the article from The Nation (of Abu Dhabi, UAE) , Mr. al Derbashy must be well connected, because his lawsuit against Egypt’s first Graphic Novel, “METRO”, has resulted in the book’s confiscation by police and the arrest of its author and publisher on the charge of offending public morals. Magdy al Shafee’s book about disaffected young men in Cairo who plot a bank robbery, portrays a society in which poverty, greed and corruption prey on its inhabitants.
The book’s foe, Mr. al Derbashy, unwittingly formulates the strongest praise for the medium heard outside literary circles:
From The Nation:
( …) he acknowledged that he was particularly offended by the emotional potency of comic books – an artistic medium with which he said he is not familiar.
“It’s the first time pictures have been used like this in Egypt,” he said. “This would not attract any attention if it were written in the classical style and without pictures.”
Other Egyptian novels in modern Arabic, Mr al Derbashy said, portray sexual scenes and similar messages. But the stirring format of Metro, he said, renders it “dangerous”.
“You can finish this book in 10 minutes and get the message immediately,” he said. “The caricatures are much more effective in this book” than in classic Egyptian literature.
As in all cases of censorship, a court ruling for it creates millions of censors in people’s heads, silencing voices before they are heard. Here’s hoping Magdy al Shafee prevails in court and inspires other Egyptians to tell graphic stories of their reality without fear of retribution, knowing that the medium is strong enough to make the mighty tremble.
Te copio