Drawing Gender: Women and French-language Comics Symposium
February 28, 2020 - February 29, 2020
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
Sullivant Hall, 1813 N. High St.
Columbus OH 43210
The Green Hand and Other Stories (2017) by Nicole Claveloux. Image reproduced with permission of New York Review Comics
This symposium celebrates the richness of women’s comics production and the representations of gender in French-language comics from around the world. Montreal-based artist Julie Delporte, along with scholars from the France, Belgium, the US, and the UK will present their work on gender throughout the history of comic strip.
This program is co-presented by The Ohio State University Department of French and Italian Department and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.
Funding for this symposium was provided by a grant from Ohio State University Energy Partners (OSEP).
If you would like to attend, go to the symposium website to register. Please respond by February 14, 2020.
Symposium Program
(all sessions in Schulz auditorium, Sullivant Hall; all presentations will be in the English language unless otherwise noted)
Friday Feb 28:
Billy Ireland Museum Galleries open until 6pm
6-7pm Julie Delporte Artist Keynote
7pm Book signing and reception
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Saturday Feb 29:
Reading room open house 12-1: 30, 5-6
Galleries open 12-6
8 am-9am Coffee and Tea service – social hour
9 am-9:15am Welcome and opening remarks by Maggie Flinn, The Ohio State University
9:15 am-10:45am Session 1: Representations: Women in and of History
Chair: Kirby Childress, The Ohio State University
Véronique Bragard, Catholic University of Louvain, “The Women behind the Woman Behind the Man: Women ‘Collective Stories on the Page in Pénélope Bagieu’s Culottées & Emilie Plateau’s Noire ” (via video conference)
Isabelle Delorme, Sciences Po Paris “Catel: Portrait of a feminist artist of the 21 th century author of comic biographies” (Presentation in French)
Jacques Dürrenmatt, University of Paris, La Sorbonne “Did the first comics bring anything new in the representation of women (Töpffer, Cham, Gustave Doré)?” (Presentation in French)
10:45 am-11:00am coffee break
11:00 am-Noon Session 2 Engaged Francophone Feminists in North Africa and the Middle East
Chair: Johanna Sellman, The Ohio State University
Jennifer Howell, Illinois State University “Gender Equality? Hshouma! Women, Sexuality, and Comics Activism in Morocco ”
Alexandra Gueydan-Turdek, Swarthmore College, “Revolutionary Comics: Samandal ’ s Feminist Stance in the Arab World ”
Noon – 1:30 pm lunch break
1:30 pm-3:00pm Session 3 Bodies, experiences, and locations
Flesh: TBD
Michelle Bumatay, Florida State University, “The Feminine Plural in Africa and the Diaspora: Quartets of Women in Aya de Yopougon and La vie d’Ébène Duta ”
Armelle Blin-Rolland, Bangor University, “Female narratives of and from Brittany: gender and environment in contemporary Breton women’s comics writing”
Catriona Macleod, University of London in Paris, “Unveiling IVG: Representations of women’s experiences of abortion in the contemporary comic strip ”
3:15 pm-3:30pm coffee break
3:30 pm-5:00pm Session 4 Industry and Audience Histories
Chair: Morgan Podraza, The Ohio State University
Jessica Kohn, Independent Historian “Women Cartoonists, a New Avenue to Understand a Little-Known Profession?”
Sylvain Lesage, University of Lille, “Women in Color: The Ninth Art’s Unknown Colorists”
Benoît Crucifix, University of Ghent, “Between Okapi and Ah! Nana ”
5:00 pm-6:00pm Reception
6:00 pm-7pm Closing Roundtable