Walls of exile: a comparative analysis between the anime Attack on Titan and the Israel–Palestine conflict through the lens of necrobiopower

Abstract

This article identifies parallels between the diachronic mechanisms of segregation, memoricide and ethnic cleansing present in the fictional narrative of the anime Attack on Titan and in the historical conflict experienced by the Palestinian people. Accordingly, the general objective of this research is to understand how Attack on Titan helps elucidate the operation of Necrobiopower within the IsraeliPalestine conflict. To this end, the methodology adopted is qualitative, with a bibliographic and documentary approach, grounded in content analysis in Bardin (2016) and the dialectical method, under a decolonial and post-structuralist perspective. Finally, the study is developed through the analysis of three core pillars that structure the phenomenon in both the real and fictional contexts: fascism, racism, and religious fundamentalism. The results indicate that both the walls of Paradis Island in the anime and the walls imposed on Palestine operate as devices of Necrobiopower, sustained by fear and the dehumanization of the “other,” revealing forms of governance based on the state of exception and the maintenance of life through death.