Framing the Francophone: The Seen and the Unseen in Contemporary Graphic Novels
The current surge of graphic novels in French, from Marjane Satrapi's oft-celebrated Persepolis to Jessica Oublié's lesser-known-yet-prize-winning Péyi An Nou, signifies a shift in priorities for Francophone storytellers. Graphic novels create meaning through the interplay of text and image; they privilege non-linear storytelling and thinking; and they prioritize accessibility over erudition. As a marginalized genre, graphic novels are a welcome home for those writing and illustrating from the margins of society. In a graphic novel, what we see is never the full story; instead, we are constantly challenged into new modes of "seeing" and "reading" that question assumptions about the consumption of literature and art.