The New Normal: Enfreakment in Saga

This article draws on the award-winning fantasy comic Saga (Vaughan and Staples 2012–present), in order to explore how it portrays bodily difference as the norm, presenting to us a fantasy reality that nevertheless uncannily parallels ours in many ways. If ‘enfreakment’ is the creation of the freak, the article argues that the comic achieves something that might be termed ‘dis-enfreakment’. This article is mainly grounded in literary disability studies, drawing upon the work by Rosemarie Garland-Thomson and others. The article explores how Saga portrays racism, miscegenation, and homosexuality. The basic argument is that, through the presentation of a variety of races and species of life, Saga deliberately questions the very idea of ‘normal’ by presenting many co-existing forms of normalcy.

Normalcy is fluid. It is not absolute. In fact, as Lennard Davis (1995: 23)

observes in
Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness and the Body, it is a human construction.
That is a point that anchors the argument in this article, with illustrations from Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' award-winning comic book series, Saga. With examples from various moments in the title, the article advances the contention that the othering, or ' enfreakment' of individuals based on sexual and species difference is an untenable process, based as it is on unstable and fluid premises and assumptions of species superiority and heteronormativity. Consequently, the discussion illustrates how various characters in the comic resist the othering, and strive to change the world that they inhabit into a more inclusive one. Although there has been growing Lipenga: The New Normal Art. 2, page 2 of 17 scholarship on the 'freak discourse' (see Bogdan 1996;Kerchy and Zittlau 2012), this study adopts what may be the most currently referenced, which is Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's (1996) Freakery: Cultural Spectacles of the Extraordinary Body.
In the book, she points out that ' enfreakment emerges from cultural rituals that stylize, silence, differentiate, and distance the persons whose bodies [are deemed different through repeated public spectacle]' (Garland-Thomson 1996: 10). Another Narratives such as Vaughan and Staples' Saga do not dwell on the past, but instead create the imaginary in such a way that it reflects our present reality. And indeed, this reality is one where the term 'freak' still has currency, as a derogatory term applied to perceived differences in appearance, sexual orientation, or general behavioral norms. It is helpful to bear in mind the point that ' comics provide rich opportunity for interrogating the politics of representation and alterity' (Whalen, Foss and Gray 2016: 4), and Saga affords us an opportunity to explore this function in the present world. In presenting a mirror to the readers, the comic falls into the category of texts that make us question attitudes and practices regarding racial difference and heteronormativity in our world.

Art. 2, page 3 of 17
There is a rich composition of beings that make up the world of Saga, at least in the world portrayed from issues 1 to 35, under consideration in this article. The setting of the comic resembles that of many famous science fiction worlds, such as that of Star Wars or Star Trek, for instance. This is so in the sense that the story (or stories, as there are multiple plotlines) plays out on various planets, involves space travel, and features characters of many different extraterrestrial species and languages. These racial differences are primarily evident through the physical appearance of the characters. For example, the natives of Landfall have wings sprouting from their backs, the inhabitants of the Wreath moon bear horns on their heads (and wield magic), the Robot species (also of Landfall) have television screens for heads, the natives of Cleave have relatively large ears on their heads, and flat noses. There are a lot of other species whose planets are not identified, a good number of whom, due to the bearing of anthropomorphic features, would be likened by the reader simply to talking animals of various species. These differences are what usually lead to enfreakment, since, in most cases, each species regards itself as the norm, and all others as freaks. This is supported by a point that Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (1997: 62-63) makes, that 'freaks are above all products of perception: they are the consequence of a comparative relationship in which those who control the social discourse and the means of representation recruit the seeming truth of the body to claim the center for themselves and banish others to the margins.' Central to this statement is the observation that enfreakment entails a social creation by those who suppose that they wield naming power through their possession of the normative body.
In opposition to the process of enfreakment, this article proposes a counterprocess that also occurs in the text. This is a process we may term dis-enfreakment, which signifies the challenging of processes, languages, and indeed actions that render one a freak. Through dis-enfreakment, barriers between individuals or species are ignored or broken down, through the recognition of the worth of the other.
There are various elements that serve to simultaneously enfreak and dis-enfreak various characters. In Saga, these include portrayals of romantic love between species, illustrations of childish innocence and how it bears the potential to subvert established assumptions about species difference and assumed superiority, complexities of sexual identity and orientation, inter-species sexual union, intertextual literary interventions and narrative agency, species coexistence, and deliberate sexual commodification of the body through brothels.

Lovers and Childish Innocence
As already pointed out, there are multiple plotlines in Saga. In virtually all of them, the issue of enfreakment emerges in different ways. Therefore, the present discussion does not limit itself to any single one of these stories, but rather attempts to illustrate how they all contribute to the singular point of enfreakment and the challenges raised against it. The central plot of the comic, indeed the feature upon which it is built, is the union of the two lovers, Alana and Marko. These two characters belong to two different species, and for the entirety of the comic (so far), they have been on the run, since their union is forbidden within their respective species.
Indeed, the animosity between the two species is so strong that it is characterized by hate-filled labels, pretty much like the world today. Much as this hate exists in their world, by bringing these two characters together right from the beginning of the text, the writers aim to show a disruption in the status quo (in the world of the comic). Even though to some this might be an 'unholy union' (Vaughan 2012e: 14), it nevertheless highlights the possibility of a shift in the way the inhabitants of this world view racial issues. Indeed, their plight is one not unlike that of the two famous Shakespearian lovers, Romeo and Juliet, in the sense that their union is strongly contested by the larger communities to which they belong, and their coming together is not seen in these communities as an act of rebellion, but rather a form of betrayal to their respective species.
Unlike the Shakespearian characters, in Saga, Vaughan and Staples use the character of Hazel to challenge the mutual othering of the species. Hazel, presented in Hazel's baby hands eagerly grasping the finger of what appears to be an arachnid creature). This in part thanks to her upbringing, as at one point in the text, her father confesses, 'I've been trying to make her more comfortable with diversity…' (Vaughan 2014b: 15). This lesson endures, to the extent that Hazel admits that to her, the word ' alien' means 'future friend material' (Vaughan 2016b: 2). This statement suggests that she is drawn to befriend those that are deemed different, even by those of their own species. And indeed, as she grows, Hazel finds herself at ease with any species that she encounters. This is a profound example of dis-enfreakment, happening as it were through the eyes of the narrator. In this case, dis-enfreakment occurs when the character does not read the other as the freak. And language is a key aspect of that process. Identifying a character as 'future friend material,' for example, is an indication of recognition, an acknowledgement of the other as a worthy individual.
Hazel exercises another form of agency in the text, even before she can walk.
From the start, she is given narrative authority. She is the one who tells the story (in the form of a flashback). In the sense that she has absolute narrative authority, this character is the one who is ultimately responsible for the dis-enfreakment that occurs in the text. The initial presentation of different species may insist on enfreakment, but Hazel's perspective towards other characters erases that label. It is in this sense that Gamson (1998: 18) talks of freaks as individuals engaged in 'muddying the

Lipenga: The New Normal
Art. 2, page 7 of 17 waters of normality. ' We are forced to realise that the label of 'normal' is elusive, once we recognize ourselves in the 'freak.' As young as she is, Hazel is quick to acknowledge the variety of anatomical configurations and species varieties in her world.

Enfreakment and Sexual Orientation
Race relations are not the only human subject that Saga comments on. One of the reasons for Saga's popularity is the way it tackles matters of sexuality, a subject that, in most science fiction works, ' often catches us by surprise' (Pearson, Hollinger and Gordon 2008: 2). That is because in futuristic or fantasy worlds often imagined in this genre, sexuality is rarely the primary concern, as opposed to the imagined or Whereas other characters in the detention centre are averse to any closeness with the

The Unifying Text: A Night Time Smoke
Part of the argument this article advances centers on the power of the text to challenge various stereotypes or wrong perceptions. Although Saga is a work of fiction, there are many elements of the story that resonate with what occurs in the world today. The reader of the text therefore stands to recognize the construction of enfreakment that also occurs around them, seen in cases of discrimination, stigma, violence and racism, just to mention a few.
Although Saga is a text that engages in this dis-enfreakment, there is a heteroglot inclusion, through the existence of A Night Time Smoke (shown in Figure 3), a novel by D. Oswald Heist. This is a case where reference to a work of literature (albeit fictional) is made within another literary work. We are never given that much access to the contents of this novel. However, at one point, we are simply told it is a book

It is beyond doubt that the literary work is what brings Alana and Marko together.
Through the seemingly sentimental romantic story on the surface, Heist lays out the seeds of a philosophy of harmonious racial coexistence. As Precup and Manea (2017:

256) argue, the novel reflects
The narrative logic of Saga: subversion follows subversion, until the binary opposites that it calls into question are collapsed and meaning becomes slippery. Yet this slipperiness is not an end in itself, but a precondition to something new: by first revealing the arbitrariness of received ways of being and knowing, it lays the foundation for an alternative reality… It is the literary work that enables the two lovers to see past the socially constructed differences that are associated with their species.
M. M. Bakhtin (1975) has famously argued that the literary text is a multivocal composition, comprising of various voices, some of which reflect the status quo,

Miscegeny: 'the opposite of war is fucking'
Miscegeny is the interbreeding of members of different races. It is an issue that has been mainly frowned upon, if human history is to provide an example. The term has been used quite widely to refer to 'the sexual union of different races, specifically whites with negroes' (Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin 2000: 127). There is a relation between miscegenation and eugenics, which was a scientific practice that was meant to preserve the assumed purity of a single race, and therefore was counter to the sexual union of people of different races.
Saga is a commentary on the restrictions between sexual union among races that have characterized many moments in human history. The assumptions of superiority displayed by various races in the comic recall Nazi ideologies behind the holocaust, as well as the justifications for the slavery of Africans. Much as these events are now history, this does not mean that negative attitudes do not still exist. Through the union of Alana and Marko, Saga adds its voice in support of mixed-race unions, emphasizing the point that at our core, we are all human, despite the various racial differences that may exist among us. Perhaps this is best captured in a line from the author of A Night Time Smoke, who sagaciously avers that 'the opposite of war is fucking' (Vaughan 2013c: 16). In the eyes of most of the characters in the comic, as Precup and Manea (2017: 263) observe, 'the biggest taboo seems to be inter-species union, with pedophilia a close second, followed by homosexuality.' In the world of Saga, the idea of sexual union between species is unthinkable. For example, one character, Gwendolyn, who is from Wreath, is very clear about the disgust she bears towards the natives of Landfall. She stresses that the horned species is ' disgusted with the idea of copulating with [their] winged oppressors' (Vaughan 2013b: 20). In yet another issue, when she finally meets Alana, she exclaims to Marko 'You really did fuck one of these animals' (Vaughan 2014a: 018). The usage of the term animal as an expression of hate is common throughout the text, just as it is in our lives. It is a term that denotes not merely othering, but also the rejection of humanity in the subject at hand. To have sex with another species, in the eyes of most characters in the text, is an act akin to bestiality. Gwendolyn's slur therefore enfreaks both Alana and Marko.
Alana is enfreaked through Gwendolyn's designation of her as an animal, and Marko is a freak through his willing sexual union with her.
According to Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (1997), literary texts can help to create enfreakment. They can render characters with anatomical differences as 'freaks, stripped of normalizing contexts and engulfed by a single stigmatic trait' (Garland-Thomson 1997: 11 Davis' (1995: 12) observation that the visualization of the different body is crucial to the formation of specific, often hateful, attitudes.
One of the clearest indications of the construction of freaks in Saga is the law that forbids any kind of sexual union between the two species (reminding the reader of anti-miscegenation laws in apartheid South Africa, for example). This is because, This in turn attracts labels such as 'goat boy' (Vaughan 2012g: 19). It should be clear that these labels commonly attempt to reduce the addressed individual to a beast.
When enfreakment occurs through the ascription of labels, it is an attempt to deny the identity that the speaker has. It is a form of misrecognition, in which one deliberately ignores the humanity of the other.
The term, monster, often used by various characters in the comic, is also an indicator of the process of enfreakment. This process is best explained by Rosemarie points to what is and what is not allowed to be human, whether in appearance or behavior' (Diamond and Poharec 2017: 404). The connection between the term and enfreakment is further captured in the argument that 'the very term "freak" seems to resonate with the most heinous connotations for labelling physical difference: aberration, monstrosity, otherness' (Davies 2015: 10). The term therefore assists in enfreakment, in the process of othering that which is physiologically different from oneself.
In general, we must acknowledge that sexual activity is here posited as an avenue of dis-enfreakment.
With the examples of Alana and Marko, Upsher and Doff, as well as Sextillion (a planet-sized brothel characterized by sexual freedom), sexual activity is one of the deliberately transgressive acts that have the potential to destabilize the upholding of a single version of normative sexuality. As we see from the story, this also has the potential to affect relations among the different species.

A World of Racial Variety
A broader perspective -an attempt to regard all the races of Saga within a single frame -helps to further clarify the points being raised here, and the way the comic mirrors the world of the reader, as well as the variety of races that live in it. Jeffrey A. Weinstock (1996: 330) acknowledges that 'SF aliens frequently function as thinly veiled metaphors for real-world racial, ethnic, religious, somatic, and political groups.' From the perspective of the reader, the entire world of Saga is populated by characters with strange appearances. It is a work of science fiction, with an imagined world, imagined species, engaging in matters that are only all too human. The two main species either have wings or horns. The characters from the Robot Kingdom have television screens (whose projection often displays the sentiment of the individual) in the place of heads (with a subtle suggestion that picture resolution is proportional to social status).
Other examples abound. D. Oswald Heist, who authors A Night Time Smoke, is a cyclops-featuring one eye on the center of his head. However, his experiences are those that many readers would be familiar with -deaths of loved ones, multiple marriages and divorce. The world of the dead does not escape this enfreakment. In the course of the story, Hazel gains a babysitter, a ghost named Izabel, who is known as a horror. It emerges that this is a term that has been assigned to her kind based on misconceptions that people have. It is therefore a discriminatory, or ' enfreaking' term, in the context of the story. This is also encouraged by Izabel's appearance: she has her torso intact, but her entrails are occasionally displayed hanging out from the bottom -a reflection of her death by landmine. The dis-enfreakment of this particular character occurs in the interactions between her and the two lovers, when they come to realise that the label of horror is wrongly applied. It is also evident in the bond that is established between Izabel and Hazel as she grows up.

Conclusion
Throughout the article, the emphasis has been on the fact that much as Saga is a work of fiction, it nevertheless provides commentary on human events and experiences. These are many, but the article has focused on how the comic book serves the Lipenga: The New Normal Art. 2, page 15 of 17 very important function of dis-enfreakment, the rejection of the social construction of freaks. It presents to its readers a world -very much a mirror of ours -in which enfreakment happens on the basis of bodily difference. The comic employs several characters and other methods to challenge these processes of enfreakment, in the process highlighting how trivial the bases of enfreakment are.