The New Narrative? Comics in Literature, Film, and Art

An interdisciplinary conference University of Toronto 9-11 May 2008

Keynote speaker: Seth

Comics, whether in the form of novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives, have been with us since the rise of literature itself, yet until recently such media have never been considered "serious"—or at least, serious enough to be considered novels that might be on university syllabi. However, with the recent rise of the graphic novel and related filmic adaptations, comics—otherwise generically grouped as "comix"—garnering considerable attention, are (yet again) being hailed as the "next big thing." The (Canadian) publishing industry acknowledges that comix are the largest growth area: is the future now?

But are comix literature? Are they more than Saturday morning cartoons? Does the study of the genre belong in an art class? Are illustrated novels and live action films really about the pictures and not the narrative? How can the history of the form be reconciled with consumer culture and the ill-defined categories of "high" and "low" culture?

Papers which examine and interpret these "new" narratives in interdisciplinary forms are most welcome. Essays on novelistic illustrations, newspaper serials, animated films, film adaptations, graphic novels, or sequential art narratives may consider the following:

- Graphic novels and auto/biography (Seth, Julie Doucet, Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, Alison Bedchel's Fun Home, David B's Epileptic)

- The bande desinee and European influences (Tintin etc)

- Illustrated and multi-media works (Barbara Hodgson, Umberto Eco, Eddie Campbell)

- Geopolitics/war and the graphic novel (Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis; Art Speigelman's Maus; Joe Sacco's oeuvre)

- Conceptions of early illustrations as series (William Hogarth) and engravings and caricatures (Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray)

- Film adaptations of comics (Spiderman, Superman etc)

- Hokusai Katsushika and the "invention" of manga

- The "inventors" of the comic strip and their influences (Rodolphe Toepffer [or T Öpffer] ; Christophe's Fenouillard Family and Camember Sapper; Nadar; Cham; Grandville; Gustave Dore and Caran d' Ache)

- Canadian and American early comics (Alberic Bourgeois; Richard Felton Outcault; Rudolph Dirks; Violet Keene)

- The Comics Code Authority and Frederic Wertham

- Illustrations in literary novels (George Cruikshank; Thackeray)

- Woodcut and "silent" artists (Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri, Laurence Hyde)

Proposals should be 400-500 words and must clearly indicate significance, the line of argument, principal texts considered, and relation to existing scholarship (or originality). One email copy of the proposal, along with a 100 word abstract and 50 word bio note must be included, as an attachment in MS Word. Final papers should be no more than 10 pages (not including artwork to be shown). Accepted papers must be submitted in advance of the Conference. Deadline for proposals is 05 January 2008. Please mail to:

Dr Andrew Lesk, Assistant Professor
Department of English, University of Toronto
170 St. George Street, #928, Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
E-mail: andrew DOT lesk AT utoronto Dot ca

Labels: analysis, can-con, comics history, comics in school, comics on film, events, misunderstanding comics, Toronto