Description
In France, comics are commonly referred to as the "ninth art". What does it mean to see comics as art? This book looks at the singular status of comics in the French cultural landscape. Bandes dessinees have long been published in French newspapers and magazines. In the early 1960s, a new standard format emerged: large hardback books, called albums. Albums played a key role in the emergence of the ninth art and its acceptance among other forms of literary narrative. From Barbarella in 1964 to La Ballade de la mer salee in 1975, from Asterix and its million copies to Tintin and its screen versions, within the space of just a few years the comics landscape underwent a deep transformation.
The album opened up new ways of creating, distributing, and reading bandes dessinees. This shift upended the market, transformed readership, initiated new transmedia adaptations, generated critical discourse, and gave birth to new kinds of comics fandom. These transformations are analysed through a series of case studies, each focusing on a noteworthy album. By retracing the publishing and critical history of these classic bandes dessinees, this book questions the blind spots of a canon based on the album format and uncovers the legitimisation processes that turned bande dessinee into the ninth art.
About the Author
Sylvain Lesage is associate professor in history at the University of Lille, and editor-in-chief of the journal Neuvieme Art, published by the Cite internationale de la bande dessinee in Angouleme.
He specializes in book history and media studies, with a particular interest in comics. His PhD dissertation provided the material for two books: Publier la bande dessinee. Les editeurs franco-belges et l'album (Presses de l'Enssib, 2018) and L'Effet livre : metamorphoses de la bande dessinee (Presses universitaires Francois-Rabelais, 2019).
Book Information
ISBN 9783031170034
Author Sylvain Lesage
Format Paperback
Page Count 201
Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher Springer International Publishing AG
Series Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels