Comics world/s in Canada: beyond the two solitudes
Reyns discusses how the key Canadian concept of the “two solitudes” (Hugh MacLennan, 1945), though it may be outdated in literature today, it's still useful in the world of comics. Although there are more bridges between the English and French traditions, and also with other cultural traditions now recognized both within Canada (aboriginal, other Canadian minorities) and abroad (Japan, Korea, etc.), these have long remained distinct from one another.
College of Arts School of Modern Languages and Cultures Stirling Maxwell Centre
Date: Thursday 27 March 2025
Time: 17:00 - 18:30
Venue: TalkLab (University of Glasgow Library Seminar Room, level 3) + Zoom (see below)
Category: Public lectures
Speaker: Chris Reyns-Chikuma, University of Alberta
Comics world/s in Canada: beyond the two solitudes
Chris Reyns-Chikuma, University of Alberta
In Canada, the medium of comics really took off in the 90s. Although comics have become a niche medium, they remain interesting as a case study of an “art world” (Becker, Bourdieu). Comics also remain popular in a variety of formats (periodicals, books, digital, translations, film adaptations), and open onto other worlds such as digital, animation, video games, and the notions of transmediality and convergence (Jenkins).
The key Canadian concept of the “two solitudes” may be outdated in literature today, but it's still useful in the world of comics. Although there are more bridges between the English and French traditions, and also with other cultural traditions now recognized both within Canada (aboriginal, other Canadian minorities) and abroad (Japan, Korea, etc.), these have long remained distinct from one another. The reasons for this siloed development were linguistic, but also cultural, such as the fact that English-language comics drew their inspiration mainly from Anglo-Saxon productions, and French-language comics from Franco-Belgian comics, in their mode of creation (aesthetics), production (format) and distribution (book and bookstore laws). Native comics, for their part, gained a certain autonomy. Finally, these first three solitudes have also contributed to the creation of a fourth one, that of the manga world, which exists largely for itself (festivals, specialized bookshops).
Thursday, 27th March 2025, 5 p.m.
In-person: Library Seminar Room (Level 3, TalkLab), University of Glasgow Library
On-line: Zoom, register here.