Au-delà des deux solitudes : les multiples et complexes circulations transnationales dans le monde des BD et des comics au Canada

• Published in: IdeAs
• Main Author: Chris Reyns-Chikuma
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; French
• Published: Institut des Amériques 2022
• Subjects: comics; Canada; "two solitudes"; "Art World"; Becker; Haïti; Latin America. Spanish America; F1201-3799; Social sciences (General); H1-99; First Nations
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4000/ideas.12145; https://doaj.org/article/6fdc4007d28f4404bc55a3d455bc799b

Canada exemplifies a particular case of the transnational circulation of "bandes dessinées" for at least two reasons. On the one hand, if one accepts that "transnational" refers to the circulation across various nations and that Canada comprises at least three nations (including Québec and the "First Nations"), one needs to speak about transnational circulations (with a lower case) inside the country. On the other hand, one needs to add a Transnational circulation (with a capital letter) among various countries within globalisation, which is different according to the domestic nations and more specifically according to the actors of each comics world. This circulation is therefore a complex phenomenon that varies on at least three levels: intra-national, inter-national, and within the three comics worlds according to the actors of these three comics worlds, whether it is the author, publisher, distributor (i.e, booksellers, librarians, teachers), festival organiser, or fan. This article documents the mechanisms of transnational circulation at these different levels and in these various fields by relying on critical readings of the Canadian concept of "two solitudes" and the Beckerian concept of "Art World". After presenting a general view and the two concepts, I will focus on the last three decades (since 1990) and highlight some representative examples.