Faculty note: Saxton-Ruiz publishes chapter from graphic novel


Prof. Gabriel T. Saxton-Ruiz, of Humanistic Studies and Spanish, has published a chapter of a graphic novel in the current issue of Words without Borders: The Online Magazine for International Literature. The piece is called “A Shining Path of Blood: Massacres and a Monologue” by Jesús Cossio. (It is taken from the graphic novel Barbarism – Comics about Political Violence: Peru 1985-1990.) As implied by the title, the book deals with Peru’s recent violent past and uses the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s final report as source material. Cossio presents a harsh critique of the brutality of Shining Path and Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru (MRTA) as well as the heavy-handed approach of the government forces. The chapter that Saxton-Ruiz translated fuses the demagogic monologue of Shining Path’s leader Abimael Guzmán with depictions of two massacres by the Maoist group in the nation’s mountainous region. Here’s a link to the February 2013: International Graphic Novels: Volume VII special issue of Words without Borders: wordswithoutborders.org/current-issue/