French Literature Reviews - 2026
V. Frigerio, Bande Dessinée and Literature: Intersections, Fascinations, Divergences
Art and Visual Culture
Vittorio Frigerio
Bande Dessinée and Literature: Intersections, Fascinations, Divergences,
Quodlibet, "Elements" series, 2018.
EAN13: 9788822902573.
This essay explores the relationship between comic books (bande dessinée) and literature, focusing on the discourse of literary critics and practitioners from the "auteur comic book" movement. It revisits the long-standing and still unresolved question of what separates and connects these two modes of expression. The author analyzes technical aspects considered characteristic of the modern "graphic novel" (the use of black and white, lengths exceeding the standard page counts imposed by commercial publishers, and chapter division). He tests their relevance through comparisons with national traditions outside the Franco-Belgian sphere—specifically the Italian tradition—and across a timeframe extending well beyond the 1970s, the era usually cited for their adoption. Special attention is given to Hugo Pratt, whose The Ballad of the Salt Sea is regarded as the first "graphic novel," as well as to formal and editorial constraints, the problematic notion of "adult comics," and the connections between comic books and artistic and literary avant-gardes. Ultimately, the debates opposing advocates of a resolutely literary comic book to practitioners of serial-inspired popular comics reveal a striking echo of the arguments that once divided realists and romantics. The question of the medium's symbolic positioning within the cultural landscape thus appears to override all other considerations.
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This essay deals with the relationship between “bande dessinée” and literature based on contemporary academic critical discourse, and on the writings of those authors belonging to the new wave of “literary bande dessinée”. Its goal is to delve once again into the vexing question of the differences and similarities between these two related but independent modes of expression. Certain technical aspects deemed typical of “graphic novel” aesthetics (the use of black and white, the length of the works, the use of chapters) are analyzed in comparison with national traditions other than the Franco-Belgian one (in particular, the Italian tradition). This is followed by an analysis of the case of Hugo Pratt, who is widely considered the father of the “graphic novel” with his Ballad of the Salt Sea. Thereafter is a discussion of formal and editorial constraints, of the controversial notion of “adult bande dessinée” and of the relationship between “bande dessinée” and artistic and literary avant-garde movements. The conclusion notes the striking resemblances between present debates and those that opposed realist and romantic authors in the mid-nineteenth century. The real crux of the matter seems then to be the question of the symbolic positioning of “bande dessinée” within the cultural world.
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Contents
- 1. Introduction – A Fragile Literariness
- 2. A Brief Return to Origins
- 3. The Question of Formal Constraints
- 4. The Pivotal Moment
- 5. The Pratt Phenomenon
- 6. "Adult" Comics
- 7. Comics and the Avant-Garde
- 8. Industrial Simplicity vs. Literary Complexity
- Bibliography
- Abstract
- Biographical Note
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Vittorio Frigerio is a Full Professor of French Language and Literature at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). A specialist in Alexandre Dumas père, to whom he has dedicated two works (Les fils de Monte-Cristo. Idéologie du héros de roman populaire, PULIM, Limoges 2002 and Dumas l’irrégulier, PULIM, Limoges 2011), he has also researched the relationship between literature and anarchism in France at the turn of the twentieth century. On this topic, he has published Émile Zola au pays de l’Anarchie (ELLUG, Grenoble 2006), Nouvelles anarchistes. La création littéraire dans la presse militante (1890-1946) (ELLUG, Grenoble 2012), and La littérature de l’anarchisme. Anarchistes de lettres et lettrés face à l’anarchie (ELLUG, Grenoble 2014). In addition, he is the author of numerous novels and short story collections in French and Italian, as well as various works of fiction published in journals and anthologies. He serves as the Publishing Director for the online journal "Belphégor. Littératures populaires et culture médiatique" (journals.openedition.org/belphegor/) and as editor-in-chief of the journal "Dalhousie French Studies".
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Vittorio Frigerio is a Full Professor of French Language and Literature at Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada). A specialist in Alexandre Dumas père, to whom he has dedicated two books (Les fils de Monte-Cristo. Idéologie du héros de roman populaire, PULIM, Limoges 2002 and Dumas l’irrégulier, PULIM, Limoges 2011), he has also worked on the relations between literature and anarchism in France at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. On this subject he has published Émile Zola au pays de l’Anarchie (ELLUG, Grenoble 2006), Nouvelles anarchistes. La création littéraire dans la presse militante (1890-1946) (ELLUG, Grenoble 2012) and La littérature de l’anarchisme. Anarchistes de lettres et lettrés face à l’anarchie (ELLUG, Grenoble 2014). He is also the author of several novels and short story collections in French and Italian, and numerous creative texts in journals and anthologies. He is Publishing Director of the online journal "Belphégor. Littératures populaires et culture médiatique" (journals.openedition.org/belphegor/) and editor-in-chief of the journal "Dalhousie French Studies".
The intersection of comic books and narrative prose has long occupied critics and creators seeking to define the boundaries separating visual and textual media. Academic inquiry in this field typically investigates how distinct storytelling traditions negotiate formal constraints, industrial pressures, and aesthetic ambitions. By examining the discourse surrounding auteur-driven comics and graphic novels, scholars often address the medium's changing status within broader cultural hierarchies and its historical ties to various avant-garde movements. Such studies contribute to ongoing scholarly dialogues about popular narrative forms and their evolving relationship with established literary canons.
Readers interested in media studies, contemporary criticism, and the comparative analysis of narrative forms may find this volume relevant. Vittorio Frigerio's essay explores the relationship between bande dessinée and literature by analyzing technical aspects, editorial constraints, and critical discourse from the auteur comic book movement. The work considers comparative national traditions, the role of Hugo Pratt, and the symbolic positioning of comics within the cultural landscape, drawing parallels to historical debates between realists and romantics.