The Ethics of Drawing Illness: Interdisciplinary Negotiations in a Participatory Graphic Narrative Project

Authors

Veronica Moretti, Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, ItaliaFollow
Annalisa Plava, Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Italia
Stefano Ratti, Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences

Abstract

This paper illustrates how the design of health-related comics contributes to reflecting on the methodological and ethical challenges of qualitative research. In line with Comics-Based Research (CBR), we demonstrate how creating a comic on medical topics emerges from continuous and iterative dialogue among multiple voices: patients, sociologists, artists, and physicians. On an ethical and methodological level, our study explores the creation of a comic book about pancreatic diseases with varying stages of severity and possibilities for cure and recovery. Constructing a comic in such contexts provides a new way of visualizing and understanding the illness experience. Representing traumatic memory in comics can profoundly affect readers and those whose memories are depicted, while also helping researchers to amplify the voices of individuals whose experiences have been marginalized or misunderstood. Our goal was to create a product that was both a graphic memoir based on true stories and a scientific and informative resource. However, the graphic novel was not merely a tool for disseminating research; it was the central focus of our project, with all aspects designed around this medium. This included the development of interview protocols and the selection of participants, ensuring that the process remained aligned with the principles of participatory and co-constructed storytelling.

Keywords

comics-based research, graphic medicine, ethics, reflexivity, interdisciplinary

Author Bio(s)

Veronica Moretti Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Italia Please direct correspondence to veronica.moretti4@unibo.it Veronica Moretti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Business Law at the University of Bologna, where she also serves as Director of the First Cycle Degree Program in Sociology. She is a member of the University’s Bioethics Committee and a founding member and Vice President of Graphic Medicine Italia, which promotes the intersection between comics as an expressive medium and the discourse on health.

Annalisa Plava Ph.D. is Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor in Sociology at the University of Bologna, Italy. Her research interests include medical sociology and the connections between art-based and traditional methods in the social research.

Stefano Ratti Full Professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Bologna and a Medical Doctor-Surgeon with a Ph.D. in Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences. He is the scientific director of the research laboratories at the Anatomical Center of the University of Bologna. He is one of the founders and the current President of the Graphic Medicine Italia Association, which promotes the intersection between comics as an expressive medium and the discourse on health.

Publication Date

4-21-2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2025.8165

Recommended APA Citation

Moretti, V., Plava, A., & Ratti, S. (2025). The ethics of drawing illness: Interdisciplinary negotiations in a participatory graphic narrative project. The Qualitative Report, 30(4), 3476-3493. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.8165