Habibi (graphic novel)

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Habibi

Publication information
Publisher Pantheon Books
Genre Romance
Drama
Publication date September 20, 2011
Creative team
Written by Craig Thompson
Artist(s) Craig Thompson
Collected editions
Paperback ISBN 0-375-42414-8
Habibi is a black-and-white graphic novel by Craig Thompson published by Pantheon
in September 2011. The 672-page book is set in a fictional Islamic fairy tale
landscape and depicts the relationship between Dodola and Zam, two escaped child
slaves, who are torn apart and undergo many transformations as they grow into new
names and new bodies, which prove to be obstacles to their love when they later
reunite.[1] The book's website describes its concept as a love story and a parable
about humanity's relationship to the natural world that explores themes such as the
cultural divide between less developed countries & more developed countries and the
common heritage of Christianity and Islam.[2]

While it has been lauded by publications such as Time, Elle, Salon, NPR and
reviewers for the beauty of its visual design and epic setting, it has also been
criticized for misrepresenting various elements such sexuality and its depiction of
Arabic culture.

Contents
1 Publication history
2 Plot Summary
3 Genre
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links
Publication history
Thompson began working on Habibi at the end of 2004 due to the widespread attention
given towards the Middle East by the American society after the 9/11 attacks[3].
Although the book is preceded by his previous work, Blankets, which
autobiographically explored Thompson's Christian upbringing and beliefs,[4]
Thompson conceived Habibi in an effort to better understand and humanize Islam, and
focus on the beauty of Arabic and Islamic cultures,[5] in contrast to their
vilification after the events of 9/11.[6] In the course of producing the story,
Thompson was inspired by Arabic calligraphy, interpreting that form of writing as
cursive shorthand for an idea, which Thompson says, is the "origin of cartooning".
[5] After having worked on the piece for nearly 6 years [3], Thompson finally
published the work in 2011 under Pantheon Books. The graphic novel has been
produced in both paperback and hardcover editions since its initial publication.

Plot Summary
Habibi takes place in the present day, albeit in a fictional "Orientalist
landscape" named Wanatolia. The story begins with Dodola, a nine-year old girl who
is sold into marriage by her poverty-stricken parents. Her husband rapes her on
their wedding night. he teaches her how to read and write, which allows Dodola to
understand and find appreciation for the Qur'an. However, one day, their home is
broken into by thieves who murder Dodola's husband and kidnap her to be sold as a
slave. During this captured period, Dodola witnesses the thieves preparing to kill
a young boy - who she saves by claiming him to be her brother despite their evident
ethnic differences.

This child is the character known to be Zam. Prior to being sold into the slave
market, Dodola and Zam escape from their captors and find refuge within an
abandoned boat in the desert. However, in order to survive and earn money towards
food and clothing, Dodola scavenges the desert and prostitutes herself to passing
travelers, which eventually earns her the title of �phantom courtesan of the
desert�. As Zam grows older, he becomes increasingly reluctant to stay hidden
within the boat until one day he decides to follow Dodola. Zam witnesses Dodola
being raped by a passing traveler and Zam is beset by guilt. In an attempt to
contribute, Zam goes off to search for water at a reservoir.

Dodola, however, is found alone in the boat by a group of men who kidnap her for
the Sultan of Wanatolia's harem. The Sultan, aware of her reputation and allure,
makes a deal with Dodola claiming that he would grant her one wish if she is able
to please him for seventy nights - otherwise, he would execute her. Dodola takes
upon the conditions of the agreement and is bound to sexual servitude for seventy
nights. However, on the very last night, the Sultan claims that he is not pleased
by her and imprisons Dodola. Throughout this episode, Zam is stuck in desert and is
confronted with starvation and thirst. In an attempt to retrieve some water, Zam
journeys back to the reservoir where he is assaulted by the tradesmen. Zam
befriends a eunuch in the nearby village and begins to undertake random tasks and
jobs in order to survive.

He eventually becomes a eunuch for the Sultan's court where he is finally reunited
with Dodola. They escape from the Sultan's palace and attempt to find another place
for refuge. Zam and Dodola come across their abandoned boat in a garbage dump.
Rather than live in the garbage dump, they decide to move to another place upon
seeing the impoverished conditions of the individuals scavenging the garbage dump
for survival. They sneak onto a garbage truck, which takes them into the city of
Wanatolia - an area that is extremely developed and filled with high-rise
buildings. They feign being a married couple and Zam finds work within the city as
a factory worker. Despite their ameliorated condition, Zam's conscious is disturbed
by Dodola's previous treatment and his status as a eunuch to the point where he
contemplates suicide. The novel concludes with Dodola and Zam saving a slave girl
to prevent her from being subject to the same fate as Dodola and with them making
plans to move out of the city.

Genre
Habibi is considered by scholars and other literary experts as a graphic novel,
which falls under the greater umbrella of the comics form[7][8]. A key
differentiating factor for this particular type of literature is the employment of
braiding - essentially the function of making connections across the multiframe[8].
It is primarily focused on the relationship of the visual composition within a
panel to others on a page and other panels scattered throughout the broader work,
such as thematic elements and their significance in reference to their positioning
within the graphic novel[8]. Habibi has also been considered as a satire due its
emphasis of Islamic influence that is countered by the advent of castration as a
means of expressing the "impossibility and undesirability of living as a
heterosexual, reproductive male"[9]. Yet, Habibi is most typified by the dramatic
elements within its panels that lead many scholars to characterize this graphic
novel as being part of a Drama-Romance genre.[10]

Reception

Craig Thompson sketches Dodola in a copy of the book during an appearance at

Midtown Comics in Manhattan, on September 20, 2011, its release date.
Douglas Wolk of Time magazine called the book "as grand and sustained a performance
as any cartoonist has published... and that every mark on the page can be a
prayer".[11] Lisa Shea of Elle magazine wrote, "Thompson is the Charles Dickens of
the genre... [and] Habibi is a masterpiece that surely is one of a kind"[12] Neel
Mukherjee of Financial Times observed that the book was "executed with enormous
empathy and something that in earlier times would have been called divine
inspiration."[13] Laura Miller of Salon stated, "a big, rousing, unabashedly tear-
jerking Dumas novel, with fascinatingly intricate designs and fabulous tales on
almost every page."[14] Inbali Iserles of The Independent predicted that "The book
is destined to become an instant classic, confirming the author's position among
not only the most masterful of graphic novelists but our finest contemporary
writers, regardless of medium."[15] Glen Weldon of NPR commented, "Of all the books
I've read this year, the mysterious, marvelous Habibi is the one I most look
forward to meeting again."[16] Jacob Lambert of The Millions called the book "The
Greatest Story Ever Drawn."[17] John Hogan of the Graphic Novel Reporter commented,
"I don�t usually look at books in-depth here in the introduction to the newsletter,
but I have to make an exception in the case of Habibi", and proceeds to call Habibi
"easily the best graphic novel of the year, and probably the decade...This is a
work that truly changes the game and sets a new standard for all the graphic novels
that follow it."[18]

Michel Faber of The Guardian praised Habibi as "an orgy of art for its own sake",
and calling Thompson an "obsessive sketcher" whose artwork he categorized with that
of Joe Sacco and Will Eisner. Although Faber lauded the book's visuals and its
message, he found both its length wearisome and its treatment of sex to be
problematic, in particular the repeatedly sexual cruelty visited upon Dodola, which
Faber felt caused the story to fold in on itself.[19]

Natalie du P.C. Panno, writing for The Harvard Crimson, called Habibi "exquisite",
seeing Thompson's use of Arabic calligraphy and geometric designs as a third
dimension that, when added to the familiar graphic novel languages of image and
text, broadened the possibilities for expression, perhaps more so for readers who
do not know what it means, and must be guided in its interpretation. du P.C. Panno
also praised the sensitivity with which Thompson executed his portrayal of
Orientalist tropes, particular by the end of the book.[1]

Charles Hatfield of The Comics Journal conducted a round table discussion of the
book featuring himself, Hayley Campbell, Chris Mautner, Tom Hart, Katie Haegele,
and Joe McCulloch. Most of the panelists applauded Thompson's visual storytelling,
calling it "gorgeous", "mind-altering", "lavish", and singling out elements such as
Thompson's use of false light, and the "poignant" image of the wooden ship in the
desert. More than one panelist compared Thompson's artwork positively to that of
Will Eisner, in particular the fisherman from the story's final act. Also praised
were the use of Arabic calligraphy and numerology, the intertwining of Biblical and
Koranic vignettes as subplots with the main story, the scripting of Dodola's
challenge to "turn water into gold", and the parallels between motifs such as
chapter numbers and their content, and between the river and blood. Hatfield
thought that the book's range of themes, from environmentalism to anti-
Islamophobia, to thinly-veiled allegories about water rights, racism, pollution,
slavery and rape made the book "way too big for elegance". By contrast, Mautner in
particular thought Habibi was a smoother read than Blankets, which he felt featured
too many subplots. Hart and McCullough agreed that Thompson's tendency to delineate
every little detail which such obviousness left little to the reader's imagination
or interpretation. The most recurrent complaint was with the book's bleak outlook
on life and humanity, and the sexual cruelties inflicted upon the characters, which
some of the reviewers thought was excessive, in particular Hatfield and Haegele,
who felt that Thompson was condemning such atrocities while simultaneously
luxuriating in them. Haegele did not care for the depiction of black characters in
the book, finding them comparable to racial caricatures, and calling them
"inappropriate" and "disgusting", and pointed to the "cornball" humor in these
scenes in particular, and throughout the book in general. Both Hart and Haegele
also pointed to Hyacinth's use of black American vernacular as implausible.
Campbell partially disagreed, saying that much of the humor was carefully used to
defuse scenes of tension, singling out the flatulent palace dwarf and the
fisherman, which others mentioned they enjoyed as well.[20]

Robyn Creswell of The New York Times called the book "a mess", and "a work of
fantasy about being ashamed of one's fantasies", an anxiety that he attributed to
American comics produced by white males in general, pointing to elements in Habibi
that recall the work of R. Crumb in particular. Echoing some of the Comics Journal
roundtable's complaints, Creswell took fault with the book's depictions of racism
and sexism, and its apparent exotification of the Muslim world without
differentiating between fact and fantasy, saying, "It�s often hard to tell whether
Thompson is making fun of Orientalism or indulging in it...Thompson the illustrator
is...apparently unable to think of Dodola without disrobing her...it is a
conventional sort of virtuosity, in the service of a conventional exoticism."[21]

Nadim Damluji of The Hooded Utilitarian called the book "an imperfect attempt to
humanize Arabs for an American audience", taking issue with Thompson's ignorance of
the Arabic language, his depiction of Arab culture as "cultural appropriation", and
the revelation in the later chapters of a modern, Westernized city in proximity to
a primitive harem palace typified by sexual slavery. Though Damluji expressed awe
of Thompson's technical skill, and found his artwork "stunning" and his ideas
derived from his research "fascinating", he observed that Dodola and Zam arrive are
given depth by contrasting them against "a cast of extremely dehumanized Arabs",
and summarized the work thus: "Habibi is a success on many levels, but it also
contains elements that are strikingly problematic...The artistic playground
[Thompson] chose of barbaric Arabs devoid of history but not savagery is a well-
trod environment in Western literature....The problem in making something knowingly
racist is that the final product can still be read as racist."[22]

On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed Habibi on its list of the 100 most
influential novels.[23]

References
du P.C. Panno, Natalie. "'Habibi' Gracefully Subverts Orientalist Tropes". The
Harvard Crimson. September 20, 2011
Matheson, Whitney. "Preview: Craig Thompson's new graphic novel, 'Habibi'". USA
Today. August 19, 2011
"'HABIBI': The Illustrated Review of Craig Thompson's ornate new epic". Washington
Post. 2011-09-23. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
Heater, Brian. "Interview: Craig Thompson Pt. 1 (of 2)" Archived 2017-10-15 at the
Wayback Machine. The Daily Crosshatch. May 7, 2007
Kois, Dan. "Arab Fling". New York Magazine. August 21, 2011
Kross, Karen L. Bookslut "An Interview with Craig Thompson". Book Slut. February
2004
Beineke, Colin (2019). "The Expanding Art of Comics: Ten Modern Masterpieces by
Thierry Groensteen". Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. 3 (2):
213�216. doi:10.1353/ink.2019.0018. ISSN 2473-5205.
Groensteen, Thierry (2016-01-01). "The Art of Braiding: A Clarification". European
Comic Art. 9 (1). doi:10.3167/eca.2016.090105. ISSN 1754-3797.
Hoving, Isabel (2018). "Desire at Risk: Queer Reconfigurations of Sexuality and
Race in Contemporary Flood Narratives". Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses (77):
91�104. doi:10.25145/j.recaesin.2018.77.07. ISSN 0211-5913.
"I. Container and contents", Child Language, De Gruyter, pp. 11�14, 1985-12-31,
ISBN 978-3-11-088229-2, retrieved 2019-12-05
Wolk, Douglas. "The Line of Beauty: Habibi a graphic novel worthy of
Scheherazade". Time magazine. October 3, 2011
 Shea, Lisa. "A Magic Carpet Ride" Archived 2011-09-24 at the Wayback Machine.
Elle. September 19, 2011
Mukherjee, Neel. "Habibi". The Financial Times. September 23, 2011
Miller, Laura. "The Best New Graphic Novels". Salon. September 26, 2011
Iserles, Inbali. "Habibi, By Craig Thompson: An enchanting epic of love and
survival emerges from the desert sands". The Independent. September 25, 2011
Weldon, Glen. "Mysterious 'Habibi' Cuts To The Core Of Humanity". NPR. September
18, 2011
Lambert, Jacob. "The Greatest Story Ever Drawn". The Millions. September 22, 2011
Hogan, John. "Game Changers" Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Graphic
Novel Reporter. August 25, 2011
Faber, Michel. "Habibi by Craig Thompson � review". The Guardian. September 16,
2011
Hatfield, Charles. "A Habibi Roundtable". The Comics Journal. October 27, 2011
Creswell, Robyn. "The Graphic Novel as Orientalist Mash-Up". The New York Times.
October 14, 2011
Damluji, Nadim. "Can the Subaltern Draw?: The Spectre of Orientalism in Craig
Thompson�s Habibi". The Hooded Utilitarian. October 4, 2011.
"100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News. 2019-11-05.
Retrieved 2019-11-10. The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of
literature.
External links
"From Habibi, a graphic novel". Guernica. September 2011