Aminder Dhaliwal's Latest Shows That Our Culture of Work is a Malice Burning Us Alive
PopMatters | Luis Aguasvivas | June 24, 2024
PopMatters reviews A Witch’s Guide to Burning
We have created a malicious work culture. Long working hours—even multiple jobs—are common for many people looking just to stay afloat, leading to burnout. To add insult to injury, we toil with thankless, unfulfilling labor only to eventually be laid off.
A Witch’s Guide to Burning, a new book by cartoonist Aminder Dhaliwal, has much to say about our relationship to labor and how it affects our perspective of ourselves. We strive to be seen as “productive individuals”, contributing to society through our labor. What is our worth as members of society if not to produce? Even the word worth carries a myriad of meanings.
Fitting its title, this story begins with a burning. Singe, a young witch, is burned at the stake for not being productive enough for her village. She is saved by the Night Witch, a nebulous collection of witches’ spirits that were burned in the past. On her journey of healing, Signe is joined by kindred spirits, Yew-Veda, a witch doctor, and Bufo Wonder, a talking frog who also happens to be a powerful witch with a tragic past. Together, they confront their traumas and the burden of overwork while fighting literal demons.
A Witch’s Guide to Burning has a unique structure. With little in terms of traditional panels, this is not a standard comic/graphic novel. There are more texts per page than similar books, and the illustrations are placed on the page as in a picture book. Color is used sparingly, but when it does appear, it accentuates key moments of the story, and you won’t forget it. Dhaliwal’s writing is strong enough to sustain itself front and center. This is a profound departure from Dhaliwal’s previous work, like the post-apocalyptic Woman World, which has a more traditional comic panel structure. Through her work, Dhaliwal has found an inspiration to elevate her craft as an animator and a writer.
A deeply personal experience fuels a Witch’s Guide to Burning. In a recent interview with CBC’s Tom Power, Dhaliwal discusses how, during the COVID pandemic, she realized that work was engulfing all of her time. This starkly contrasts the image of people having more free time during the early days of lockdown. The high demand for her work as an illustrator resulted from people watching more shows on streaming platforms. The work took its toll.
Check out the rest of the review here!
A Witch’s Guide to Burning, a new book by cartoonist Aminder Dhaliwal, has much to say about our relationship to labor and how it affects our perspective of ourselves. We strive to be seen as “productive individuals”, contributing to society through our labor. What is our worth as members of society if not to produce? Even the word worth carries a myriad of meanings.
Fitting its title, this story begins with a burning. Singe, a young witch, is burned at the stake for not being productive enough for her village. She is saved by the Night Witch, a nebulous collection of witches’ spirits that were burned in the past. On her journey of healing, Signe is joined by kindred spirits, Yew-Veda, a witch doctor, and Bufo Wonder, a talking frog who also happens to be a powerful witch with a tragic past. Together, they confront their traumas and the burden of overwork while fighting literal demons.
A Witch’s Guide to Burning has a unique structure. With little in terms of traditional panels, this is not a standard comic/graphic novel. There are more texts per page than similar books, and the illustrations are placed on the page as in a picture book. Color is used sparingly, but when it does appear, it accentuates key moments of the story, and you won’t forget it. Dhaliwal’s writing is strong enough to sustain itself front and center. This is a profound departure from Dhaliwal’s previous work, like the post-apocalyptic Woman World, which has a more traditional comic panel structure. Through her work, Dhaliwal has found an inspiration to elevate her craft as an animator and a writer.
A deeply personal experience fuels a Witch’s Guide to Burning. In a recent interview with CBC’s Tom Power, Dhaliwal discusses how, during the COVID pandemic, she realized that work was engulfing all of her time. This starkly contrasts the image of people having more free time during the early days of lockdown. The high demand for her work as an illustrator resulted from people watching more shows on streaming platforms. The work took its toll.
Check out the rest of the review here!