Drawing France: French Comics and the Republic

by Joel E. Vessels

Overview

A sophisticated account of the evolving role of comics in recent French history In France, Belgium, and other Francophone countries, comic strips--called bande dessinée or "BD" in French-- have long been considered a major art form capable of addressing a host of contemporary issues. Among Frenchspeaking intelligentsia, graphic narratives were deemed worthy of canonization and critical study decades before the academy and the press in the United States embraced comics. The place that BD holds today, however, belies the contentious political route the art form has traveled. In Drawing France: French Comics and the Republic, author Joel E. Vessels examines the trek of BD from its being considered a fomenter of rebellion, to a medium suitable only for semi-literates, to an impediment to education, and most recently to an art capable of addressing social concerns in mainstream culture. In the mid-1800s, alarmists feared political caricatures might incite the ire of an illiterate working class. To counter this notion, proponents yoked the art to a particular articulation of "Frenchness" based on literacy and reason. With the post-World War II economic upswing, French consumers saw BD as a way to navigate the changes brought by modernization. After bande dessinée came to be understood as a compass for the masses, the government, especially François Mitterand's administration, brought comics increasingly into "official" culture. Vessels argues that BD are central to the formation of France's self-image and a self-awareness of what it means to be French. Joel E. Vessels, Astoria, New York, is instructor of history at Nassau Community College. His work has appeared in International Journal of Comic Art and Contemporary French Civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604734447
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	05/13/2010
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Joel E. Vessels is instructor of history at Nassau Community College. His work has appeared in International Journal of Comic Art and Contemporary French Civilization.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: A Force to Beckon With 3

Chapter 1 Stirring up Passions: Politics, Bande Dessinée, and Images in the Nineteenth Century and the Late Third Republic 17

Chapter 2 What Your Children Are Reading: Bande Dessinée, Catholics, and Communists 38

Chapter 3 Notre Grand-Papa Pétain: The National Revolution and Bande Dessinée in Vichy 74

Chapter 4 Vive la France! Now Who Are We?: Reconstruction, Identity, and the 16 July Law 108

Chapter 5 The Commission at Work: Saying "Non" to Microcephalic Hercules and Determining What Makes for a Good French BD 143

Chapter 6 Culture Becomes Policy: Bande Dessinée as Monumental Architecture 174

Epilogue: A Sous-Produit Littéraire No Longer 216

Notes 237

Bibliography 277

Index 297