Culture, Theory and Critique | 2019
Zahra’s Paradise: the virtual technics and political potential of subjective (dis)orientation
Abstract
ABSTRACTZahra’s Paradise is a webcomic-turned-graphic novel depicting the aftermath of Iran’s Green Movement, where untold numbers of protesters were arrested, tortured and killed. The comic occupies matrices of liminality, both in its creation and in its impact on audiences. Through its modes of encounter with readers, or its virtual technics, Zahra’s Paradise works to disorient audiences, unravelling the centrality of Western notions like the rational, individual subject. In this essay, I argue that the virtual technics of Zahra’s Paradise poses political potential by enrapturing the attention of Western audiences while dismantling the dominance of the Western gaze.