Page - 38 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

38 | Christian Wessely www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 17–44 islamic terror organisations such as the so-called islamic state (is) or al-Qaeda have two principal reasons for not using comics for propaganda purposes: a strong tradition in Islam of rejecting images,47 and the primary orientation of the largest audience in is towards social media, which means that a comic would miss its target audience. in the last months, there are rare examples for sub- versive islamistic propaganda in popular Marvel comics;48 however, the thriving comic scene in moderate islam is mostly system critical.49 SYSTEM-CRITICAL FUNCTION Comics can also contain a system-critical and subversive potential. Disdained in the soviet Union, the comics that reached the hands of the ruling class presented the Western way of life as very attractive, and were therefore potentially trou- blesome. Numerous more-current examples can also be cited: in india, which is characterised by strong traditions and social continuities, in addition to innumer- able system-affirming comics, comics that convey social-political themes con- fronting the social and religious traditions of the country are also sold in great number. such comics broach issues such as homosexuality, women’s rights, so- cial injustice, and the military and political orientation of the country.50 For Iranian culture, the film adaptation of Persepolis by Marjana Satrapi has gained international renown. in this comic movie, satrapi deals with her child- hood in iran, engaging iranian social and political conditions critically.51 indo- nesia has a thriving comic scene that denounces hypocrisy and corruption in local politics.52 for europe we can cite cartoonist Olaf schwarzbach, who until his escape from east Germany in 1989 was under observation by state security because of his system-critical drawings.53 feminist discussions have also pro- duced a long series of comic publications.54 More recently, comics have been used as means of raising awareness against islamism, and in particular against IS (see fig. 16). 47 Although the Qur’an does not strictly regulate aniconism (like exod 20:1–6 and Deut 4:15–19, the suras 5:90 and 6:74 are directed against pagan idols and their veneration) but early hadith indicate a funda- mental mistrust of pictures in general; cf. Paret 1976, 158–181. 48 Marvel had to withdraw parts of X-Men Gold #1 due to hidden islamistic messages one of the artists hid in some panels (see http://news.orf.at//stories/2386857/ [accessed 10 Apr. 2017]). 49 see https://de.qantara.de/search/overview/comic [accessed 15 Dec. 2016]; I thank Ulrike Bechmann for this reference. 50 see Otto 2014, 79. 51 Satrapi 2005; filmed by Marjana Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, FR/US 2007. 52 see https://de.qantara.de/inhalt/comicszene-in-indonesien-goldenes-zeitalter-fur-talente [ac- cessed 15 Dec. 2016]. 53 see schwarzbach 2015. Unfortunately little original material from schwarzbach’s years in the GDr has survived, partly as the result of raids by the Stasi, and partly because when Schwarzbach fled in 1989, he took with him only what he could carry. 54 Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List–of–feminist–comic–books [accessed 3 Dec. 2016]. it is note- worthy that many such books are the work of men.