French Literature Reviews - 2026
Th. Groensteen, Gotlib. Un abécédaire
Art and Visual Culture
Thierry Groensteen, Gotlib. Un abécédaire,
Brussels, Les Impressions Nouvelles, "Réflexions faites" series, 2019.
EAN13: 9782874496462.
Gotlib left us on December 4, 2016. His passing triggered a wave of articles in the press, clearly demonstrating the impact his work has had on at least two generations of readers. The fact that all his books remain available and constantly reprinted is another definitive testament to this. However, the secondary literature available on Gotlib does not measure up to the immense humorist and comic book innovator that he was. One mostly finds collections of tributes, occasional writings, and biographical approaches, but ultimately very little critical scholarship.
The A-to-Z format (Abécédaire) is particularly well-suited for attempting to encompass the entirety of a highly dispersed body of work that spanned very different periods, multiple publication mediums, and included several major collaborations—not to mention that Gotlib was not only an author, but also a magazine editor and a mentor to an entire generation of cartoonists.
Richly illustrated, this A-to-Z guide comprising sixty-nine entries explores the breadth of Gotlib’s work by tracing the genealogy and distinct nature of all his major characters, while examining its narrative, comic, graphic, sociological, transgressive, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, and even political dimensions.
The Author
A historian and theorist of comics, Thierry Groensteen is a project manager at the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image, editor-in-chief of the online journal NeuviemeArt2.0, a collection director at Actes Sud, and the author of numerous works, including La Bande dessinée mode d’emploi and Un Art en expansion, both published by Les Impressions Nouvelles.
The alphabetical format allows Thierry Groensteen to navigate a vast and varied body of work characterized by distinct creative periods, multiple publication mediums, and significant editorial collaborations. By organizing the material into sixty-nine entries, the study traces the genealogy of Gotlib's major characters while examining the narrative, comic, graphic, sociological, transgressive, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, and political dimensions of his output. Beyond his role as an author, the volume addresses his work as a magazine editor and mentor to subsequent generations of cartoonists, engaging with a creator whose influence spanned at least two generations of readers.
Comics studies as an academic and critical discipline often intersects with literary theory, visual culture, and sociological analysis, examining how graphic narratives construct meaning through the interplay of image and text. Thierry Groensteen, a recognized historian and theorist of the medium, contributes to this broader field through works that investigate the poetics and structures of bande dessinée. Readers interested in francophone comic traditions, cartooning history, and the critical appraisal of major humorists may find this volume a relevant point of reference.