University of Iowa Iowa Research Online Theses and Dissertations 2010 Popularizing historical taboos, transmitting postmemory: the French-Algerian War in the bande dessinée Jennifer Therese Howell University of Iowa Copyright 2010 Jennifer Therese Howell This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/683 Recommended Citation Howell, Jennifer Therese. "Popularizing historical taboos, transmitting postmemory: the French-Algerian War in the bande dessinée." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2010. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/683. Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd Part of theFrench and Francophone Language and Literature Commons POPULARIZING HISTORICAL TABOOS, TRANSMITTING POSTMEMORY: THE FRENCH-ALGERIAN WAR IN THE BANDE DESSINÉE by Jennifer Therese Howell An Abstract Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in French and Francophone World Studies in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa 1 July 2010 Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Anny Dominique Curtius 1 ABSTRACT In addition to proposing a survey and subsequent analysis of the French-Algerian War in French-language comics, also known as bandes dessinées, published in Algeria, France, and Belgium since the 1960s, my dissertation investigates the ways in which this medium re-appropriates textual and iconographic source materials. I argue that the integration or citation of various sources by artists functions to confer a measure of historical accuracy on their representation of history, to constitute a collective memory as well as personal postmemories of the war, and to re-contextualize problematic images so that they and the hegemonic discourses they reinforce may be deconstructed. Moreover, the bande dessinée mimics secondary schoolbook representations of the war in both Algeria and France in its recycling of problematic images such as Orientalist painting, colonial postcards, and iconic images of war. The recycling of textbook images has the double advantage of ensuring reader familiarity with these images and of inviting critical interpretations of them. By exploring how the bande dessinée reuses colonial images as well as critical histories in predominantly anti-colonialist narratives, I seek to explain how this popular medium uniquely problematizes questions of history, memory, and postcolonial identity related to French Algeria and its decolonization. It is my contention that, because historical bandes dessinées frequently include or reference authentic textual and iconographic source material documenting the repercussions of the French-Algerian 1 war on various communities, they represent a valuable resource to middle and high school teachers looking to enrich the state-mandated history curriculum. By using the bande dessinée in this capacity, educators exploit this medium as both a historical document (whose objective is to transmit knowledge of the past) and a document of history (which allows scholars to retrace the evolution of public opinion). 2 Abstract Approved: ____________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________ Title and Department ____________________________________ Date 2 POPULARIZING HISTORICAL TABOOS, TRANSMITTING POSTMEMORY: THE FRENCH-ALGERIAN WAR IN THE BANDE DESSINÉE by Jennifer Therese Howell A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in French and Francophone World Studies in the Graduate College of The University of Iowa 1 July 2010 Thesis Supervisor: Associate Professor Anny Dominique Curtius Copyright by JENNIFER THERESE HOWELL 2010 All Rights Reserved 2 Graduate College The University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL _______________________ PH.D. THESIS _______________ This is to certify that the Ph.D. thesis of Jennifer Therese Howell has been approved by the Examining Committee for the thesis requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in French and Francophone World Studies at the July 2010 graduation. Thesis Committee: ______________________________________ Anny Dominique Curtius, Thesis Supervisor ______________________________________ Eric Gidal ______________________________________ Michel Laronde ______________________________________ Rosemarie Scullion ______________________________________ Jennifer Sessions ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am forever grateful to my dissertation advisor, Professor Anny Dominique Curtius, whose encouragement and guidance during my doctoral studies enabled me to mature professionally. I would also like to acknowledge my readers, Professors Eric Gidal and Michel Laronde, whose comments and constructive criticism helped me grow as both a scholar and writer. I would like to thank Professors Rosemarie Scullion and Jennifer Sessions for graciously accepting to serve as members on my dissertation committee. A special thanks to everyone on my committee for their valuable insight and supervision. I would like to personally thank Rosemary Stenzel for her administrative support. In addition, I am highly indebted to Catherine Ternaux at the CIBDI for helping me research my project, to Philippe Ostermann, Farid Boudjellal, and Jacques Ferrandez for taking the time to answer my questions about their work and the bande dessinée industry, and to Paul Benhamou for sharing his personal experiences with me. Chapter 5 would never have been possible without the help of Étienne Augris, his students at Lycée Claude Gellée, Stéphanie Carrier at the Lycée français in Tunis, and their amazing history blog. I also wish to thank Michel Deligne, Manu Larcenet, Mediatoon and the editors at Casterman, MC Productions, Autrement Jeunesse, Futuropolis, and Œil Électrique for allowing me to reprint bande dessinée images as part of my dissertation. Finally, I am grateful for my parents and their continuous support throughout my post- 2 graduate education. ii ABSTRACT In addition to proposing a survey and subsequent analysis of the French-Algerian War in French-language comics, also known as bandes dessinées, published in Algeria, France, and Belgium since the 1960s, my dissertation investigates the ways in which this medium re-appropriates textual and iconographic source materials. I argue that the integration or citation of various sources by artists functions to confer a measure of historical accuracy on their representation of history, to constitute a collective memory as well as personal postmemories of the war, and to re-contextualize problematic images so that they and the hegemonic discourses they reinforce may be deconstructed. Moreover, the bande dessinée mimics secondary schoolbook representations of the war in both Algeria and France in its recycling of problematic images such as Orientalist painting, colonial postcards, and iconic images of war. The recycling of textbook images has the double advantage of ensuring reader familiarity with these images and of inviting critical interpretations of them. By exploring how the bande dessinée reuses colonial images as well as critical histories in predominantly anti-colonialist narratives, I seek to explain how this popular medium uniquely problematizes questions of history, memory, and postcolonial identity related to French Algeria and its decolonization. It is my contention that, because historical bandes dessinées frequently include or reference authentic textual and iconographic source material documenting the repercussions of the French-Algerian 3 war on various communities, they represent a valuable resource to middle and high school teachers looking to enrich the state-mandated history curriculum. By using the bande dessinée in this capacity, educators exploit this medium as both a historical document (whose objective is to transmit knowledge of the past) and a document of history (which allows scholars to retrace the evolution of public opinion). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 History, Memory, Postmemory ........................................................................2 The Bande Dessinée as Imagetext ....................................................................6 Chapter Organization ......................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1: THE FRENCH-ALGERIAN WAR IN THE BANDE DESSINÉE ...........18 The Algerian Bande Dessinée ........................................................................19 SNED/ENAL Publications ......................................................................31 Slim and Sid Ali Melouah .......................................................................38 Franco-Belgian Publications ...........................................................................41 Shorts and Single Albums .......................................................................46 Bande Dessinée Series .............................................................................58 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL ACCURACY AND LITERARY APPEAL .......................74 Claiming Historical and Biographical Authenticity .......................................74 The Bande Dessinée as a “Mosaic of Quotations” .......................................102 CHAPTER 3: RECYCLING THE ORIENTALIST AESTHETIC .................................127 (Re)Imagining the Self and the Other ...........................................................128 (Re)Mapping Colonial Landscapes ..............................................................149 CHAPTER 4: PHOTOGRAPHY, NARRATIVE, AND MEMORY ..............................178 Press Photography and Collective Memory .................................................179 Picturing the Family: The Bande Dessinée and Postmemory ......................194 CHAPTER 5: THE BANDE DESSINÉE: HISTORICAL DOCUMENT OR DOCUMENT OF HISTORY? .....................................................................228 4 The Bande Dessinée and the History Classroom ..........................................229 Decolonizing Colonial History: “Une histoire commune?” .........................243 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................250 APPENDIX: LA GUERRE D’ALGÉRIE EN BD: ENTRETIEN AVEC J. HOWELL .....................................................................................................258 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................265 iv