article

Enhancing Children’s Narrative Adaptation in Coping with the Harms of War through Comics: Towards the Development of a Literary Model

  • Al-Jawharah Bint Bakheet A'al Jehjah 1
  1. 1. Professor of Literary Criticism and the Language of Law and Regulations, Department of Literature, Rhetoric, and Criticism, College of Arabic Language, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Saudi Arabia.
Issue: Vol. 8 No. 3 (2026)
Pages: 78-106
Published: 2026-07-31
DOI: 10.53286/efd8bv24
PDF (Arabic)

Abstract

This study explores how Arabic comics can foster children’s narrative adaptation and resilience in the face of the cumulative psychological and social harms caused by war. Integrating perspectives from International Humanitarian Law and the Ethics of Care, the research proposes an original analytical framework, the CARES Model, and applies thematic and semiotic narrative analysis to three influential visual narratives: Alia’s Mission, A Game for Swallows, and I Remember Beirut. The study is grounded in the assumption that relational care constitutes a fundamental mechanism of adaptation and that comics possess the capacity to reconstruct children’s moral agency by transforming them from passive victims into active ethical subjects. Organized into two main sections, the research first introduces the CARES Model and its methodological applications, then examines narrative and visual representations of war and the strategies through which emotional recovery and adaptation are cultivated. The findings reveal that social relationships and supportive spatial environments function as protective narrative networks that mirror legal frameworks designed to safeguard civilians. In particular, spatial positioning proved highly effective in promoting resilience, while participatory community care emerged as the most significant factor in strengthening adaptive capacities. The study ultimately proposes a literary model that highlights the educational and therapeutic potential of visual narratives in contexts of conflict and crisis.

Keywords

Crisis Literature Child Epistemic Agency Ethics of Care International Humanitarian Law Arabic Visual Narrative

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