New Books In French Studies

Regarded as the “9th Art”, French bande desinée have a much longer history of serious socio-political engagement than American comics. Since the Algerian War (1954–62), postcolonialism, migration, anti-racism are major themes in francophone comics. Mark McKinney’s newest book studies the genre from the formal dismantling of the French colonial empire in 1962 up to the present. Postcolonialism and Migration in French Comics (Leuven UP, 2021) analyses comics representing a gamut of perspectives on immigration and postcolonial ethnic minorities, ranging from staunch defense to violent rejection. Individual chapters are dedicated to specific artists, artistic collectives, comics, or themes, including avant-gardism, undocumented migrants in comics, and racism in far-right comics. Dr. Mark McKinney is Professor of French at Miami University, Ohio. Postcolonialism and Migration in French Comics(Leuven University Press, 2020) is the final installment of a trilogy of sorts that includes The Colonial Heritage of French