Intermediality in French-Language Comics and Graphic Novels

This collection of essays is devoted to the study of intermediality in French-language comics and graphic novels. It explores the relations or interconnections between the modalities of expression and representation used in bande dessinée and that of other media. This book provides a theoretical reflection on the notion of intermediality in comics, as well as thirteen chapters studying comics that transgress established boundaries between media, create a dialogue between their respective devices, or combine various vehicles or platforms of representation. These individual analyses discuss mixed-media uses of comic art and film, literature, reportage, painting, photography, religious iconography, history, memory studies, video games, and music. All chapters primarily focus on French-language works, although some comparative essays partially discuss graphic works in other languages.

Essays by Maaheen Ahmed, Renée Altergott, Jan Baetens, Livio Belloï, Michelle Bumatay, Erwin Dejasse, Hugo Frey, Maxence Leconte, Fabrice Leroy, Mark McKinney, Ana Oancea, Tamara Tasevska, Fred Truyen, and Charlotte F. Werbe.  

Praise for Intermediality in French-Language Comics and Graphic Novels

“. . . a delightfully varied volume that takes comics to the worlds of cinema,photography, reportage, art, and music. . . . This is not just top-notch scholarship,it is a glimpse at the future of comics studies.”—Laurence Grove, University of Glasgow, professor of Frenchand Text/Image Studies, Director, Stirling Maxwell Centre

“A fascinating collection of essays that force us to rethink the fundamentalintermediality of the bande dessinée (BD). . . . A must read in comics studies.”—Aubrey Gabel, assistant professor, Columbia University

“An inspired and inspiring collection, these thirteen richly illustrated essays ponder a fascinating and wide-ranging spectrum of bandes dessinés that share an affinity for breaking generic boundaries and crossing medium-specific bridges, all while engaging crucial topics—such as colonial memory, trauma and political violence, social alienation, and racial solidarity—that shape the global francosphère today.”—Ari J. Blatt, University of Virginia

“No matter what one may presume to know about intermediality and comics, one never ceases to learn from this edited volume, both theoretically, thanks to a brilliant introduction, and practically, with thirteen chapters, all equally interesting!”—Chris Reyns-Chikuma, University of Alberta, Canada
 

About the Authors

Jan Baetens is Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Leuven, Belgium. His work focuses on the theory and practice of contemporary French poetry, cultural theory, and visual narrative in popular print genres (novelization, comics, photonovels, and film photonovels). His most recent books include Novelization: from Film to Novel (The Ohio State University Press, 2018), The Film Photonovel (Texas University Press, 2019), and Rebuilding Story Worlds. The Obscure Cities by Schuiten and Peeters (Rutgers University Press, 2020).

Hugo Frey is Professor of Cultural and Visual History and Director of the Institute ofArts and Humanities at the University of Chichester, UK. His research work focuses on twentieth century France and Francophone Europe with special emphasis on the politics of visual culture. He is the author of monographs on Louis Malle (Manchester University Press, 2004) and Nationalism and the Cinema in France (Berghahn, 2014). With Jan Baetens, he is the author of The Graphic Novel (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and one of the editors of The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Fabrice Leroy is Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He has published numerous book chapters and scholarly articles on French and Belgian Francophone literature and graphic novels, as well as monographs on French cartoonists Joann Sfar (Sfar So Far: Identity, History, Fantasy, and Mimesis in Joann Sfar’s Graphic Novels, Leuven University Press, 2014) and Pierre La Police (Pierre La Police: Une esthétique de la malfaçon, Serious Publishing, 2019, in collaboration with Livio Belloï).