The Possibilities of Graphic Ethnography

An Interview with Claudio Sopranzetti, Sara Fabbri and Chiara Natalucci

Abstract

Claudio Sopranzetti, Sara Fabbri, and Chiara Natalucci are the team behind the new graphic ethnography The King of Bangkok (University of Toronto Press 2021). The King of Bangkok tells the story of Nok, an urban migrant from Thailand’s northeastern region as he moves back and forth from his home village and attempts to build a life in the country’s capital across periods of massive economic growth and collapse and periods of democratic expansion, state violence, and political closure. Structured around a series of flashbacks, The King of Bangkok shows how these historical events shaped Nok’s life and how Nok’s life came to shape those events. The book was originally published in Italian (Add Editore, 2019) and was subsequently translated into Thai as Taa Sawaang (Awakening, อ่านอิตาลี 2020). In this interview we ask Claudio, Sara, and Chiara about their experience creating this text, its relationship with more traditional ethnographic genres of writing, and the effects their project has had in Thailand. We are delighted to feature a small section of the book following the interview.