Existentialist Comics

This book explores the historical and artistic value of three bande dessinée (BD), French-language comics, that depict the lives of Existentialist thinkers Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. The work is the first to analyse biographical BD through the lens of Existentialism, offering a new theory of reading biographical comics.

«This book makes a valuable contribution to the field of BD studies, and more specifically to theories of biographical BDs. The author proves that the three BD biographies of Sartre, Beauvoir and Camus, far from offering «dumbed down» introductions to prominent intellectuals, have succeeded in creating an entirely new biographical form. It is immaculately researched, with well-selected quotations from Existentialists and their critics meticulously melded together with equally pertinent references to comic strip scholars.» (Dr Matthew Screech, Senior Lecturer in French, Manchester Metropolitan University)

Elizabeth Benjamin is Lecturer in French and Associate of the Centre for Arts, Memory and Culture, at Coventry University, UK. She previously worked at the University of Birmingham, UK, and the Université de Lorraine, France. Her research is in French and Francophone memory studies, with particular interest in the ways in which memoryscapes are constructed and mediated through cultural artefacts such as monuments and literature, as well as education. Her work on bande dessinée focuses on the ways in which lives are transposed and interpreted, and how legacies are influenced, by artistic and philosophical interactions. Her other interests include Francophone postcolonial theory, French politics and neuroscience.