June, 2013
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ , info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Céline Canton, « The Great War and contemporary comics », DUMAS - Dépôt Universitaire de Mémoires Après Soutenance, ID : 10670/1.ehtnvp
This research explores the imaginary of the First World War as represented in comics, highlighting the role of the artist as mediator of the world and its history within the community. Referring to the re-emergence of interest in the 14-18 period in contemporary sensibilities, historian Antoine Prost, in his book Penser la Grande Guerre» (2004, Éditions du Seuil), stresses that artists have a responsibility to represent realities and struggles, and to go beyond the limits of historical discourse. This university dissertation is based on a prosopographical methodology, and aims to provide an account of a corpus of comics on a variety of themes that enrich the memory and imagination of the Great War. This manifests itself through the construction of a diegetic universe, in mimesis, exploring the documentation of the extreme or the withdrawal into the intimate. As a medium, comics exploit affective, imaginary and political constants. Artistic otherness offers a unique perspective for presenting, interpreting, perpetuating, catalyzing, transmuting and revealing memory. This research shows how the medium of comics plays an essential role in the representation and understanding of history, contributing to the collective perception of the First World War.