Journal of Postcolonial Writing· 2026Q1
Cross-border mobility and epistemic embodiments of blue humanities in Vanni: A Family’s Struggle through the Sri Lankan Conflict
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A blue humanities framework reveals the Indian Ocean acts as an epistemological actor, shaping resilience and threat for Tamil families during the Sri Lankan civil war, as depicted in the graphic novel Vanni.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- The Indian Ocean is framed as an epistemological actor in the graphic novel Vanni, influencing Tamil families during the Sri Lankan civil war.
- The novel connects narratives of violence, displacement, and coastal ecology to the ocean's role in fostering both rupture and resilience.
- Illustrations in Vanni are analyzed for their ability to evoke empathy and depict forced migration and ecological crisis.
- A blue humanities approach is used to explore oceanic consciousness and solidarity within the narrative.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This article, at the intersection of postcolonial ocean studies and comics studies, examines the politics of cross-border mobility and the poetics of blue aesthetics in author Benjamin Dix and illustrator Lindsay Pollock’s ethnographic graphic novel, Vanni: A Family’s Struggle through the Sri Lankan Conflict. The novel interweaves narratives of violence, displacement, and coastal ecology within the fractured lives of Tamil families during the Sri Lankan civil war. The Indian Ocean emerges as a postcolonial space shaped by capitalist and military ventures, functioning to cause disorientation, rupture, and resilience. Based on a blue humanities framework, the article argues for the oceanic presence as an epistemological actor that both sustains and threatens life. It explores how Pollock’s hand-drawn images evoke empathy and negotiate authenticity in depicting forced migration and ecological crisis. Drawing from the theoretical works of Steve Mentz, Bruno Latour, and others, it highlights the novel’s formation of oceanic consciousness and solidarity.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Literature and Literary Theory
Literature and Literary TheoryArts and Humanities