Comics and Empire

When Jean de Brunhoff published The Story of Babar in 1931, he lent visual form to colonial rhetoric with the seemingly simple tale of an orphaned elephant. Just a year earlier, the Belgian George Rémi (Hergé) published Tintin au Congo, which included notoriously racist caricatures, and then Tintin en Amérique, which was known for its sympathetic portrayal of the Blackfoot people. But beyond noting the engagement of comics in issues of caricature, stereotype, and representation, how might we understand the broad translation and dissemination of comics across a variety of historical and cultural settings? Our class will address debates in the dynamics of crosscultural representation and explore how comics provide a particular optic for the analysis of colonialism. We will investigate civilizational discourse as pertains to stereotypes, physiognomy, caricature and humor, and also to the place of comics within literary culture and revolutionary movements. Our discussions will draw from critical essays on the emergent field of comic studies as well as representative texts, cultural commentary and films dealing with the emergence of this graphic form. No prior knowledge of the field is required, but each student will be expected to participate actively in this reading and writing intensive seminar and to work over the term on a final project.

Satisfies Core Education Requirements:

• Group Satisfying: Arts & Letters (A&L)
• Areas of Inquiry: Arts & Letters (A&L)
• Multicultural: Identity, Pluralism, and Tolerance (IP)
• Cultural Literacy: Global Perspectives (GP)