Program

Bulgarian Comics as an Identity Mirror

Thematic area : 1) Comics in Society

This contribution grounded in the doctoral thesis Narrativity and Rhythmicity of Ornamentation in Bulgarian Sequential Art in the Digital Age, explores the narrative constellation of major authors and collectives in Bulgarian sequential art over the past fifteen years. The intermedial research extends beyond the sequential art, which is comics, to include other domains such as animation, mixed media narratives, and transmedia fictions. To understand the historical development of comics in Bulgaria, it is necessary to examine their interaction with various cultural influences and sectors of visual culture, considering the challenges faced during the totalitarian era (1946-1989). This period was marked by Soviet cultural dominance, using sequential art as a tool for propaganda. Considering the evolving identity of Bulgarian comics, the media functions as an anticipation laboratory, unveiling the impacts of democratization, globalization, and digitalization on its development. The country has, in a sense, cultivated an environment to integrate comics into a broader graphic culture, mirroring the contemporary hybridization of visual media. This parallel represents the Bulgaria’s unique approach, creatively utilizing ornamentation as a visual and narrative matrix. In this regard, the theoretical framework of media archaeology proves crucial for understanding these intricate processes. The mirror effect method, based on interview analysis, not only guided the extraction of the corpus, but also the creation of an analytical framework and the interpretation of results. Through the analysis, the research brings to light how Bulgarian sequential art reinvents its imagery in the digital age and unveils how society and memory find expression through comics.

Biographical note

Svetlana Gencheva, a visual artist and researcher, holds a Ph.D. in Information and Communication from Catholic University of Louvain.

Philippe Marion is an emeritus professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and the founder and an active member of the ORM (Observatory of Media Narrative).

Bibliographical references

• Gaudreault, André & Marion, Philippe. (2006), Cinéma et généalogie des médias. Média Morphoses, no16, accessible online at: http://documents.irevues.inist.fr/
• Gencheva, Svetlana. (2016), Normes et créativité dans les cycles historiques de la bande dessinée bulgare, article, Inter Pares, Numéro 6 | 2016, accessible online at : https://www.academia.edu/35287573/La_raison_est_elle_devenue_l_unique_norme_du_processus_artistique_avant_gardiste_et_contemporain_dans_ses_phases_cre_atrice_et_re_ceptrice_pp_61_68_
• Gencheva, Svetlana. (2023), Narrativité et rythmicité de l’ornementation dans l’art séquentiel bulgare à l'ère numérique. Presses universitaires de Louvain : ISBN : 978-2-39061-394-7, accessible online at : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/282950
• Krief, N. et Zardet, V. (2013). Analyse de données qualitatives et recherche-intervention. Recherches en Sciences de Gestion, 95(2), 211-237, accessible online at : https://www.cairn.info/revue-recherches-en-sciences-de-gestion-2013-2-page-211.htm
• Marion, Philippe. (1998), Transécriture et médiatique narrative. L’enjeu de l’intermédialité. Dans : André Gaudreault et Thierry Groensteen (dir.), La transécriture. Pour une théorie de l’adaptation, Québec/Angoulême, Nota bene/Centre national de la bande dessinée et de l’image.
• Stoïanova, I. (2017), Bulgaria. In B. Beaty, S. Weiner, & A. Paraschos (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Comics. Routledge.sa

La guerra por el agua: Education and Activism via Documentary Webcomics

Thematic Area: Comics for Society

In the aftermath of the internal armed conflict in Peru, which lasted from 1980-2000, the documentary comic began to take root and flourish in the Peruvian comics scene, fostered by a group of local cartoonists seeking to preserve and protect historical memory surrounding this period, as well as to aid in the process of national healing following this deeply painful period. Though stemming from a tradition of socially engaged comics production that can be traced back to decades before the start of this conflict, the documentary comics that came after it began to take a decidedly realist approach to engaging with the societal ills of their time, rather than cloaking their commentary in allegory and funny animals. In another notable departure, this body of work also began to incorporate significant amounts of “official” / published material in the form of news articles, photographs, and even the report that came out of the commissioned Truth and Reconciliation Report of 2003. Supported by the Peruvian Ministry of Justice and various national and international foundations, this work quickly established Peruvian comics as a key space for interrogating complex concerns at the personal, local, and even national level, all the while fighting for a more just society.

After giving a brief general overview of this trajectory of comics for society in Peru, this presentation will focus on a recent evolution of the Peruvian documentary comics as manifested in La guerra por el agua (The War for Water), created by Jesús Cossio, Nelly Luna Amancio, and Jason Martinez. One of the most compelling aspects of this comic is its materiality, which is what this presentation will center. Bringing its readers directly into the conflict via interactive progression, audio, and animation, the virtual space of the comic also creates links to investigative reporting and other coverage of the local (and largely indigenous) battle for access to water in the face of multinational corporate interests. Published in both English and Spanish, this text effectively pushes the boundaries of traditional conceptions of local organizing, presenting a compelling example of the role that webcomics can play in expanding community organization efforts around the world.

Works Cited

• Luna, Nelly, Jesús Cossio, and Jason Martínez. 2016. La guerra por el agua. https://
• laguerraporelagua.ojo-publico.com/es/.

Brittany Tullis is Associate Professor of Spanish & Latinx Studies and Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St. Ambrose University. Her work on transamerican comics and cultural studies appears in Hispanic Issues On Line, the International Journal of Comic Art, and Comics Studies: Here and Now. She is co-editor/contributing author of the 2018 Eisner Award nominee Picturing Childhood: Youth in Transnational Comics as well as a co-coordinator of a special 2020 issue of Mitologías hoy. Brittany currently serves as Chair of the International Comic Arts Forum (ICAF) Executive Board.

Humor Magazines as a Reflection of Social Change in Turkey: Analysis of Turkish Comics in the Pre-Republican Period and the Thirties in the Perspective of Europeanism

ABSTRACT

Beginning with Selim the third (1789-1807); “The Europeanism” movements that continued with Mahmud the second (1808-1839) gained a completely different dimension with the Tanzimat Edict. While the Ottoman Empire was an empire that had established superiority in Asia, Europe and Africa throughout the ages, it fell behind the economic and technological advances that started with geographical discoveries in Europe, and especially the sultans of the stagnation period turned their backs on the fact that the world was being reshaped, feeling “longing for the past”. The 19th century is a period in which the Ottoman Empire truly accepted the superiority of Europe, accepted the fact that the process of adaptation to Europe was quickly implemented, and began to make revolutionary changes in this direction. The Tanzimat Edict (1839) is the most concrete example of this. In this context, the 19th century is also very important for the history of Turkish comics. The first newspapers and magazines were printed in the 19th century [1]. The first humor magazine in the Ottoman Period was Diyogen (1870), published by Teodor Kasap. The first cartoon was published in the newspaper called Istanbul in 1867 [2]. While the humor press was forming in the Ottoman period, the public was exposed to social and political criticism to some extent through Karagoz-Hacivat. With humor magazines, the public was experiencing a new transition from being a “viewer” to being a “reader”.

References:

1. Turgut Çeviker. KARİKATÜRKİYE: Karikatürlerle Cumhuriyet Tarihi (1923- 2008), Tek Parti ve Demokrat Parti Dönemi (1923-1960), İstanbul: NTV Yayınları, 2010.
2. Semih Balcıoğlu, Cumhuriyetin 75 Yılında Türk Karikatürü, (İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 1998.

Bibliographical Note:

Bahadir Ucan was born in 1990 in Beyoglu. He graduated from Kadıkoy Mustafa Saffet Anatolian High School. In 2006, his cartoon book "Cizgili Koyun Kavalcisi" was published. He had his undergraduate education at Marmara University, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. He also had his master's degree in Yildiz Technical University/Faculty of Art and Design/Interactive Media Design program and his doctorate in same university (2017). He studied animation at UCLA Media Design department (2014). He worked as a researcher related to his doctoral thesis on “Computer Aided Analysis of Caricature: Turkey-Australıa Comparison” at Central Queensland University (2016-2017). He has been working as an academician at Yildiz Technical University, Department of Communcation and Design.

Thematic Area: 1) Comics in Society

Cómics y Viñetas: Herramientas Efectivas en la Enseñanza de Lenguas

Milada Mala
Departamento de Lenguas y Literaturas Románicas, Facultad de Letras,
Universidad Masaryk
Brno, República Checa
Correo electrónico: malamilada@mail.muni.cz

Resumen:
El uso de cómics y viñetas en clases de lengua ha demostrado ser una herramienta efectiva para mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Esta ponencia explora cómo estos recursos visuales pueden facilitar la comprensión de conceptos lingüísticos y culturales, así como fomentar la motivación y el interés de los estudiantes. Se analiza el impacto de los cómics en la adquisición de vocabulario, la comprensión lectora y el desarrollo de habilidades de expresión escrita. Además, se discute cómo las narrativas visuales pueden ayudar a los estudiantes a contextualizar y relacionar el contenido con situaciones reales, promoviendo un aprendizaje más significativo.

La investigación se basa en una revisión de literatura académica y en la implementación de un proyecto piloto en varias aulas de secundaria. Los resultados indican que los estudiantes expuestos a cómics y viñetas muestran una mayor retención de vocabulario y una mejor comprensión de estructuras gramaticales en comparación con métodos tradicionales. Asimismo, se observa un aumento en la participación y el entusiasmo por el aprendizaje de la lengua.

Dado que, los cómics y las viñetas representan un valioso recurso didáctico en la enseñanza de lenguas, ofreciendo múltiples beneficios educativos que justifican su integración en el currículo escolar, conviene prestarles una debida atención también en los ámbitos universitarios.

Palabras clave: Cómics, Viñetas, Enseñanza de lenguas, Comprensión lectora, Motivación estudiantil, Adquisición de vocabulario.

The image of aging in current graphic novels

Denisse Torena-Carro submission
PHD Universidad de Granada (España) / Teacher Universidad de la República (Uruguay)

Thematic area: Comics in Society

Demographic aging is a growing reality in western countries. However, there is a devalued image of old age because it is not part of the useful sector within a society of production and consumption, and is outside the prevailing canons of youth and dynamism. For this reason, it is important to investigate which paradigms of aging are expressed in art and media, in particular, within publications consumed by adult audiences worldwide: graphic novels. The following research proposes to carry out a survey of 30 contemporary graphic novels whose narrative revolves around the theme of aging. Publications published in the Spanish language during the 21st century will be analyzed, looking for the existence of a variety of authors, nationalities and publishers. The sample of books will be studied based on an eminently qualitative analysis, aimed at discriminating the way in which the narratives are articulated based on the main messages they want to transmit. The narrative resources – both textual and iconic – used to represent aging will be analyzed, which will allow the design of a database based on direct questions about both the textual and graphic narrative. Subsequently, results will be extracted and a series of typologies will be deduced that contribute to their classification and subsequent development of conclusions. In this way, the aim is to show what discourses and values ​​are linked to the vision of the aging of our culture within current graphic novels.

Denisse Torena-Carro (Montevideo, 1983)
PhD candidate in History and Art at the University of Granada, where in 2019 she obtained the title "Master in Drawing: illustration, comics and audiovisual". She is a professor at the University of the Republic (Uruguay). She is a member of the Interdisciplinary Center on Aging. She is a freelance cartoonist and illustrator.

Bliographical references

• Berriel, F. Crowe, M. Rovira, A. Torena, D. Nero, M. y Herd, D. (2021). La Convención de los Derechos de las Personas Mayores: Una Guía Gráfica. University of Dundee.
• Hidalgo-Rodríguez, Mª C. y Torena-Carro, D. (2023). La representación de las personas mayores en las publicaciones ilustradas actuales. Mensajes contenidos en los álbumes ilustrados infantiles y en las novelas gráficas para adultos. Revista Kepes, 20(28), 15-48. https://doi.org/10.17151/kepes.2023.20.28.2
• Kuttner, P., Weaver-Hightower, M. y Sousanis, N. (2021). Comic-based research: The affordances of comics for research across disciplines. Qualitative Research, 21(2), 195-214.

• Muñoz, D. (2020). Escribir con viñetas, pensar con bocadillos. Es Pop ediciones.

• Pinazo Hernandis, S. (2013), Reflexionando sobre la vejez a través del cine. Una aproximación incompleta. En Informació psicologica, nº105, gener-juny, 91-109
• Rovira, A. (2021). El problema del reconocimiento de los derechos humanos de las personas mayores en tiempos de Covid19. https://cutt.ly/DJL22W0

El potencial del cómic como recurso didáctico al aplicar el método de enseñanza por tareas para desarrollar la creatividad en las clases de ELE

Athena Alchazidu
Centro de Lenguas, Universidad Masaryk
Brno, República Checa
Correo electrónico: athena.alchazidu@cjv.muni.cz

El cómic, una vez llevado al aula, dispone de un enorme potencial para servir como un recurso didáctico útil y provechoso, especialmente en las clases de ELE. Eso se debe principalmente a su carácter específico y particular, gracias al que tiene un gran atractivo para los alumnos de todas las categorías de edad. En este contexto cabe subrayar que su uso no se restringe solamente a la explotación de los aspectos lingüísticos de las respectivas capas discursivas, que conforman el texto, ya que el cómic convertido en recurso didáctico se puede aprovechar para transmitir diversos contenidos relacionados con la sociedad, cultura y civilización. Además, se trata de una herramienta importante, que si se usa de manera adecuada y apta, desempeña un papel clave en el proceso de construir el conocimiento de las realidades presentes en nuestras vidas; pues, como afirman algunos especialistas, el sistema educativo ya no es el único punto de referencia para que las personas obtengan conocimientos, gracias a los que puedan entender e interpretar el mundo, y formarse culturalmente (cfr. Baudet Guerra, 2001). Por último, conviene mencionar que tanto el cómic, como las novelas gráficas, representan un instrumento eficaz que permite introducir toda una serie de elementos innovativos al complejo proceso de aprendizaje-enseñanza, los que, a su vez, contribuyen a ampliar el número de actividades con componentes lúdicos, aptos para varios escenarios educativos. La ventaja de estas actividades, además, consiste, en que si se encadenan, es posible aplicar el método de enseñanza basado en tareas —task-based language teaching approach— (Dunan, 2017). La presente ponencia aspira a ofrecer una propuesta práctica de cómo aprovechar el cómic en la clase de ELE, para crear un abanico de actividades, que, por un lado, enfocan las competencias lingüísticas claves —así como los componentes socioculturales—, y que, por otro lado, destacan por su capacidad de abrir espacio a la creatividad. Es allí donde radica la oportunidad, dado que, cada profesor de lengua procura, que las actividades llevadas al aula, hagan el proceso de aprendizaje más dinámico y fluido. Una de las posibles soluciones es, aceptar el desafío, y tomar en consideración la creatividad como agente decisivo en los métodos y estrategias empleados (cfr. Helfand, Kaufman & Beghetto, 2017). El uso del cómic, y la diversidad de tareas, pueden conformar un proyecto de clase con fines bien definidos según el programa que toque impartir. Dado, que su realización se dividirá en varias fases —entrelazadas entre sí de una forma orgánica—, no solo se logra motivar a los alumnos, e involucrarles directamente en el proceso creativo, sino que además se fomenta su curiosidad por la materia estudiada, y su interés por la propia lectura. Para ejemplificar lo expuesto, se aprovechará el cómic de Alicia Vallina y Joan Molina, titulado Catalina de Erauso (2018), que representa una interpretación particular de la autobiografía de la Monja Alférez, un curioso personaje histórico real de la época del Siglo de Oro.