September 14, 2011 - 12:00am
Women’s contribution to the world of comics, and to graphic narrative more generally, will be the focus of Dr. Marni Stanley’s presentation on Friday, Sept. 16, from 10 to 11:30 am in the Malaspina Theatre (Building 310). Her presentation is the first in this fall’s Arts and Humanities Colloquium series. The event includes discussion and refreshments and is open to the public. There is no admission charge. Community members are especially welcome.
Dr. Stanley, who teaches Women’s Studies and English at VIU, has researched and published on comic books, graphic novels, manga, graphic memoir, and other forms of sequential art for years.
“In the past, people dismissed graphic narrative as pulp fiction for the barely literate,” she says. “However, in the last thirty years comic art has moved from a problem in the critical hinterland to a major genre with its own well-developed critical practice.”
The field is definitely dominated by men, but women have been making comics successfully since the beginning of the 20th century. Early mainstream comics by women often focused on fashion or children, as in the works of Nell Brinkley and Rose O'Neill. The growth of underground comics from the 1960s onwards opened the door to the comic expression of feminism and to comic artists such as Tina Robbins.
Today, a multitude of women produce comics in every genre from journalism to autobiography. In this Arts and Humanities Colloquium, Dr. Stanley will introduce her audience to some of these wonderful women artists and explore the history and significance of their work.
Dr. Stanley’s presentation will be followed on Oct. 14 with a public lecture by English and Creative Writing professor Dr. Keith Harrison on “Romeo and Juliet and the Romantic Politics of Deepa Mehta’s Water.”
The final presentation in the Fall series of the Arts and Humanities Colloquium will take place on Nov. 18, when artist Gregory Ball and English professors Dr. Daniel Burgoyne and Dr. Ross MacKay will talk about “A Printing House in Hell: William Blake’s Illuminated Printing.”
For more information on the Arts and Humanities Colloquium contact Dr. Katharina Rout at katharina.rout@viu.ca or 753-3245, local 2120.
Tags: In the Community
