Graphic storytelling and family trauma: a multimodal analysis of Sharon E. Mckay and Daniel Lafrance’s War Brothers (2008)

Studies on African storytelling have explored the richness of various narrative modes in articulating specific themes. However, the deployment of graphics as a narrative mode has received limited linguistic scholarly attention. The resurgence of graphics-based storytelling may be due to the relatively recent rise of digital technology, which has ushered in new forms of storytelling that depart from traditional textual narratives. One of the emerging texts is Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance’s War Brothers (2008), a work that remains authentic to the African experience despite the authors’ non-African identities. This article is, therefore, designed to examine the deployment of multimodal technique with a view to describing how this digital mode is used to construct and portray war, conflict and trauma in the text. Drawing on Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen’s Multimodal Discourse Analysis, the research aims to demonstrate how graphic representation enhances the reader’s engagement with the intended meaning and experience. Findings reveal the use of various modes such as texts, typology, spatial and temporal backgrounds, colours, lighting, silhouettes to depict different themes in the text. These range from child soldiering to family separation, loss of innocence, psychological trauma, among others. The article contributes to broader conversations on African child soldering.