Overview

In this groundbreaking study of French-language comic strips, Catriona MacLeod looks at the representation of women across three distinct categories: as main characters and as secondary figures created by male artists, and as characters created by women artists. Drawing from feminist scholarship, especially well-known film and literary theorists, the book asks what it means to draw and depict women from within a phallocentric, male-dominated paradigm as well as how the particular medium of bande dessinée (the French-language graphic novel) has shaped dominant representations of women. MacLeod’s exploration focuses on the representation of female characters in French comics across genres, artistic styles, and time periods. Until now, these characters and their creators have received relatively little scholarly attention, or have only been considered individually, rather than within wider patterns of female representation; this book aims to correct that. 

Full Product Details

Author:   Catriona MacLeod (University of London Institute in Paris)
Publisher:   Intellect
Imprint:   Intellect Books
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9781789386813

ISBN 10:   1789386810
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   23 September 2022
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Professional & Vocational ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Introduction - Women Problems SECTION 1: PRIMARY WOMEN CHARACTERS Chapter 1 - Becassine to Barbarella...But What Came in Between? An Introductory History of Female Primary Characters in the Francophone Bande Dessinee Chapter 2 - Becassine: The First Lady of Bande Dessinee? Chapter 3 - Barbarella: Study of a Sex-Symbol Chapter 4 - Solving the Mystery of Adele Blanc-Sec SECTION 2: SECONDARY WOMEN CHARACTERS Preface: A Brief Consideration of the Minor Chapter 5 - Beyond Bonemine: An Introductory History of Female Secondary Characters in the Francophone Bande Dessinee Chapter 6 - A Study of Stereotypes: The Secondary Female Characters of Asterix Chapter 7 - Secondary Women in Urban Realism: La Vie de ma mere Chapter 8 - Black Secondary Women in the Works of Warnauts and Raives: The Eroticization of Difference Chapter 9 - Secondary Women in the BD New Wave: The Female Figures of Le Combat ordinaire SECTION 3: WOMEN CHARACTERS BY WOMEN CREATORS Chapter 10 - The Women that Women Draw: An Introductory History of Female Characters Drawn by Women Artists in the Francophone Bande Dessinee Chapter 11 - The Rise and Fall of Ah! Nana: France's first and only all-female illustre Chapter 12 - Murdering the Male Gaze: Chantal Montellier's Odile et les crocodiles Chapter 13 - Everyday extremes: Aurelia Aurita's Fraise et chocolat Conclusion - Problem Solved? Figures Bibliography

Reviews

'[Invisible Presence] is a fundamental book for comics scholars, whether or not their research is focused on gender studies. Catriona MacLeod's detailed analysis of BD, and its male and female authors, is a very valuable source of information especially the vast and varied descriptive level of characters, vignettes, plots and actions. [...] I have to highlight the importance of the vindicating aspect of this volume, namely highlighting the void regarding female characters and female authors that persists in encyclopedic and historiographical volumes on BD; the difficulty of creating genealogy about 20th-century pioneering female authors, and the gaps in the creation of female characters other than by straight white women.' -- Maria Marquez Lopez, International Journal of Comic Art

'[Invisible Presence] is a fundamental book for comics scholars, whether or not their research is focused on gender studies. Catriona MacLeod’s detailed analysis of BD, and its male and female authors, is a very valuable source of information especially the vast and varied descriptive level of characters, vignettes, plots and actions. [...] I have to highlight the importance of the vindicating aspect of this volume, namely highlighting the void regarding female characters and female authors that persists in encyclopedic and historiographical volumes on BD; the difficulty of creating genealogy about 20th-century pioneering female authors, and the gaps in the creation of female characters other than by straight white women.' -- María Márquez López, International Journal of Comic Art 'Catriona MacLeod's work does not rely on archival funds: that is not her perspective. However, in terms of a culturalist method of analysis nourishing a history of representations, Invisible Presence appears to be exemplary of what gender studies can bring to the study of comics.' -- Sylvain Lesage, Genre & Histoire

'[Invisible Presence] is a fundamental book for comics scholars, whether or not their research is focused on gender studies. Catriona MacLeod's detailed analysis of BD, and its male and female authors, is a very valuable source of information especially the vast and varied descriptive level of characters, vignettes, plots and actions. [...] I have to highlight the importance of the vindicating aspect of this volume, namely highlighting the void regarding female characters and female authors that persists in encyclopedic and historiographical volumes on BD; the difficulty of creating genealogy about 20th-century pioneering female authors, and the gaps in the creation of female characters other than by straight white women.' -- Maria Marquez Lopez, International Journal of Comic Art 'Catriona MacLeod's work does not rely on archival funds: that is not her perspective. However, in terms of a culturalist method of analysis nourishing a history of representations, Invisible Presence appears to be exemplary of what gender studies can bring to the study of comics.' -- Sylvain Lesage, Genre & Histoire

Author Information

Catriona MacLeod is a lecturer in French Studies and Politics at the University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP). Her research interests concern women in French-language graphic novels (bandes dessinées) and narratives of trauma and migration in bandes dessinées and caricatures.

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