Safe Area Safe for Subject?

I approached reading Safe Area Gorazde with a great deal of trepidation. I really loved the idea of the piece-- as I love the idea of anything that uses creative media to give voice to injustice-- but I was very nervous about how the people of Gorazde would be portrayed versus how they wanted to be portrayed versus how they had actually expressed themselves to Sacco.

I majored in anthropology in undergrad and I always approached "testimonies" and cultural case studies with the same feelings of uncomfortability. I feel like, no matter how hard an artist/ethnographer/interviewer tries to keep their subject best interests at heart, no matter how committed they are to furthering their subject's interests, the fact remains at the end of the day that you are using someone else's experiences for your own pleasure/exploration/gain. Even though this type of art is something I'm studying and engaging in, my feelings of core conflict remain.

This conflict is particularly strong for me when people who have undergone trauma are concerned, simply because the interviewer is providing an emotional release for the subject that puts them in vulnerable, even emotionally dangerous places, and then using what comes out to make subjective art. Despite (perhaps despite is not the right word. Maybe in addition to this) I feel like Sacco has really created a lovely piece of art here that has the potential to do real good in the world. I think that he uses to two techniques that really offset or maybe mitigate some of the risk I described earlier.

One is that he incorporates himself into the story, making it clear that the story details not just a re-telling for his subjects, but also a journey for himself. Secondly, he doesn't reduce his subject down to "suffering machines" he really goes out of his way to describe the minutiae of their experiences, even when they don't "directly apply" to the situation that drew him to Gorazde. To me, these two techniques indicate an important brand of respect on Sacco's part. In the end, when you create this kind of art, you can't control the effects that it has on your informants. Sometimes the best thing you can do is, in the act of creation, use specifics to keep your heart in the right place.