Contributing to a Global History of Graphic Narratives: The Transfer of Mainstream Comic Books from the U.S. to France
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: In this article, we explore the possibilities offered by a global history approach to graphic narratives, showing how certain aspects of their history can be better explained by analyzing them on a global scale. Graphic narratives are deeply linked to national cultures – a cultural partitioning reinforced by institutions and markets. Many of their aspects, however, are transnational both in conception and in terms of cultural transfer. Using the example of the cultural transfer of American mainstream comic books to France, we will examine ways of building a global – and possibly better – definition of what a graphic novel is, and of analyzing graphic narratives when they are transferred beyond their original market. Applying a comparative perspective to the multiple publications of the same story in the US and in French-speaking countries, we will see that French publications of Marvel comic books influenced in return the graphic novel format used by mainstream publishers in the U.S. market. We will also see how the first transfers, from the U.S. to France and to Quebec, gave birth to secondary transfers between French-speaking countries.
Source: HAL
Author: Delhaye, Pierre-Alexis
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3215995335