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This chapter introduces the broad theoretical approach of the volume while connecting it to previous research on comics and migration. The chapter demonstrates that while a crucial aspect of comics in relation to migration is that the former represents the latter, there are several other practices, uses, and functions alongside representation that connect these two. The chapter suggests that when analysing the intersections of comics and migration, comics ought to be regarded in relation to a wide range of practices and considered in their respective cultural, social, and political contexts.
Most of the chapter is devoted to mapping the current state of research on the entanglements of comics and migration and presenting the chapters of the volume. It foregrounds the following perspectives: cartooning and stereotypes, graphic life writing and identity, memory and trauma, witnessing and human rights, readerly engagements and empathy, advocacy and NGO-produced comics, comics workshops and self-expression, and comics in education. The modest proposal of the introductory chapter is that comics studies should move towards paying more attention to the multiple entanglements that comics in general – and comics and migration in particular – are involved in.

Politiikan viihteellistymistä on pidetty jälkimodernina ilmiönä, joka liittyy toisen maailmansodan jälkeiseen mediaan ja etenkin televisioon. Viihteellistymisen on esitetty pilaavan politiikan siirtämällä fokuksen asioista henkilöihin, tunteisiin ja hömppään. Ilmiö on yhdistetty myös jälkimoderneihin identiteetin ja kansalaisuuden rakentumisen muotoihin. Artikkelissamme osoitamme edellä kuvatun näkemyksen politiikan viihteellistymisestä historiattomaksi. Osoitamme 1900-luvun alun suomalaisten sosialistien poliittista toimintaa koskevan tapaustutkimuksen avulla, että viihteen ja politiikan yhtymäkohtia on ollut runsaasti jo tuolloin. Analysoimme sosialistisen politiikan viihteellisyyttä pilalehti Kurikan (1904–1906) ja Ihanneliiton toiminnan (1903–1912) sekä erilaisten sosialististen julkaisujen ja toimintamuotojen avulla. Esitämme havaintonamme, että vaikka sosialistit suhtautuivat varauksellisesti "ajanvietteeksi" tai "kaupalliseksi" määritettyyn viihteeseen, sen elementtejä hyödynnettiin tietoisesti ja monin eri tavoin poliittisessa toiminnassa. Analyysimme perusteella politiikkaa on viihteellistetty jo sata vuotta sitten. Politiikan viihteellistämisellä on ollut useita erilaisia funktioita: viihteellä pyrittiin kasvattamaan sosialistien kannattajakuntaa, vahvistamaan sitoutumisastetta sekä tekemään tutuksi järjestäytyneen toiminnan periaatteita ja sosialismin aatetta.

Comics and human mobility have a long history of connections. This volume explores these entanglements with a focus on both how comics represent migration and what applied uses comics have in relation to migration. The volume examines both individual works of comic art and examples of practical applications of comics from across the world. Comics are well-suited to create understanding, highlight truthful information, and engender empathy in their audiences, but are also an art form that is preconditioned or even limited by its representational and practical conventions. Through analyses of various practices and representations, this book questions the uncritical belief in the capacity of comics, assesses their potential to represent stories of exile and immigration with compassion, and discusses how xenophobia and nationalism are both reinforced and questioned in comics. The book includes essays by both researchers and practitioners such as activists and journalists whose work has combined a focus on comics and migration. It predominantly scrutinises comics and activities from more peripheral areas such as the Nordic region, the German-language countries, Latin America, and southern Asia to analyse the treatment and visual representation of migration in these regions. This topical and engaging volume in the Global Perspectives in Comics Studies series will be of interest to researchers and students of comics studies, literary studies, visual art studies, cultural studies, migration, and sociology. It will also be useful reading for a wider academic audience interested in discourses around global migration and comics traditions.