MLA 2022 Non-Guaranteed Session CFP: Comics on the Border (DEADLINE: 3/15/2021) Call for Papers for a proposed non-guaranteed roundtable sponsored by the Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum to be held (if accepted) at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, Jan. 6-9, 2022, in Washington D.C. Comics are defined by borders in formal representation and structure, in the boundaries between word and image and generic categories, in the networks and communities of mainstream and alternative production and circulation. Beyond questions of form—borders created by panels and gutters—and audience—borders around communities of readership—borders materially contain, constrict, and dominate identities.  In Disaster Drawn, Hillary Chute considers theRead More →

MLA 2022 Collaborative/Non-Guaranteed Session CFP: Reading and Translating Comics in Two Directions (DEADLINE: 3/15/2021) Call for Papers for a proposed special session at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, Jan. 6-9, 2022, in Washington D.C. This collaborative panel is jointly sponsored by the Arabic Forum and the Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum. The 2022 MLA Presidential Theme calls us to look at “multilingual US,” and “make language a tool of inclusion rather than exclusion.” Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, and the “Maghreb” are the main producers of comics and graphic narratives today. Comics have become very popular among Middle Eastern writers and artists, such as: ZeinaRead More →

MLA 2022 Guaranteed Session CFP: Manga’s Global Influence (DEADLINE: 3/15/2021) Call for Papers for a guaranteed roundtable panel sponsored by the Forum for Comics and Graphic Narratives at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, January 6-9, 2022 in Washington, DC. Though conversations about comics have frequently replicated the silos of the academy by discussing one national tradition at a time, scholars have begun paying attention to how, as print and digital objects, comics readily cross national borders. The tradition of manga in Japan is one of the oldest and largest comics traditions, encompassing a multitude of genres and audiences, and this status has ledRead More →

The Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum will be sponsoring three panels at MLA 2021, 86. New Flashpoints in Comics History, 396. Comics and Graphic Narratives for Young Audiences, and 636. Decolonizing Comics and/as Activism. Also, check out all the other comics-related panels at MLA 2021. 86 – New Flashpoints in Comics History Thursday, 7 January 2021, 1:45 PM – 3:00 PM Description Participants share work that identifies moments in comics history that have been overlooked. They discuss how American and transnational comics histories have been shaped by cultural conflict and exchange, the comics industry and its discontents, and changing technologies of production. Presider: Margaret Galvan,Read More →

In addition to the three panels that the Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum will be sponsoring at MLA 2021, 86. New Flashpoints in Comics History, 396. Comics and Graphic Narratives for Young Audiences, and 636. Decolonizing Comics and/as Activism, there will be a number of other comics-related panels at MLA 2021. Comment on this post if you have any sessions to add! About Comics Thursday, January 7 61. Graphic Narratives: Tools for Intersectional Resistance against Systemic Injustice 145. Comics on the Couch 177. Comics and Illness: Mediating Trauma through Image-Textual Encounters Friday, January 8 234. Imagining Epic: Representations of Medieval Heroes in Art, Film, and Comics Saturday, JanuaryRead More →

New Flashpoints in Comics History Call for Papers for a guaranteed roundtable panel sponsored by the Forum for Comics and Graphic Narratives at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, January 7-10, 2021 in Toronto, ON. “For all the vibrant scholarship emerging around comics today, the medium remains a largely unplumbed and uncanonized field of texts you’ve never heard of.” —Ramzi Fawaz, “A Queer Sequence: Comics as a Disruptive Medium” (2019) Certain moments in comics have been regarded as pivotal in our histories and often bear repeating in scholarship, including R. Crumb’s shaping of the underground and subsequent movements through publishing Zap Comix in 1968;Read More →

Decolonizing Comics and/as Activism Call for papers for a non-guaranteed proposed session at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention on January 7-10, 2021, in Toronto, Canada. This panel is sponsored by the Comics and Graphic Narrative Forum. Academic histories of comics are too often colonial, in their focus on America, France, and Japan and in the aesthetic criteria they favor. Yet, when we tell history in this colonial, Eurocentric way, we leave out many perspectives, particularly those of colonized and indigenous peoples. Ken Coats defines global indigenous people through their activism when he says indigenous groups have a history of “participating in protests organizedRead More →

Comics and Graphic Narratives for Young Audiences This panel explores intersections between children’s literature and comics (including manga and graphic novels). All periods and nations welcome. Call for Papers for a proposed special session at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention on January 7-10, 2021 in Toronto, ON. This collaborative panel is jointly sponsored by the Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum and the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Forum. Children’s comics and graphic novels have emerged as the dominant commercial force in the industry, with authors like Raina Telgemeier and Dav Pilkey selling millions of books. Yet comics studies still pays relatively little attention to comics for children.Read More →

In addition to the two forum-sponsored panels at MLA 2020, 325. Webcomics and/as Digital Culture & 587. A Decade in Comics, the Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum will also be holding a social event at the bookstore of the renowned independent comics publisher, Fantagraphics (1201 S Vale St, Seattle, WA 98108), on Saturday evening, January 11. We will begin at 7pm, and the event with feature a signing by Seattle cartoonist Natalie Dupille. Refreshments will be served. In addition to our forum events, check out all the other comics-related panels at MLA 2020.Read More →

The Comics and Graphic Narratives Forum will be sponsoring two panels at MLA 2020, 325. Webcomics and/as Digital Culture & 587. A Decade in Comics. Also, check out all the other comics-related panels at MLA 2020.Read More →