[Comicsstudiessociety] CFP: GSA Comics Studies Network Panels (Indianapolis, IN, Sept. 30 - Oct. 3, 2021)

Sun Jan 3 18:30:04 EST 2021

Dear colleagues,

The *GSA Comics Studies Network* welcomes abstract proposals for the
following panels at the 45th Annual *German Studies Association Conference
in Indianapolis, Indiana, from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021*. *Deadline for
submission is January 31, 2021.*

Sincerely,
The GSA Comics Studies Network Organizers   GSA Comics Studies I & II: Teaching
and Reading Nora Krug’s *Belonging *(2018)

It was arguably the comics medium’s thematization of the Holocaust and
World War II that put sequential art on the proverbial map. Art
Spiegelman’s award of the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for *Maus *(1980–1991)
demonstrated to both general and academic audiences that comics and graphic
novels are capable of presenting traumatic experiences of historical
significance, while intervening in important debates on how to remember
World War II. In turn, *Maus* became the foundation for several important
scholarly engagements with the ethics and effects of representing the
Holocaust.

Since this critical moment in comics history, graphic narrative has become
an essential part of research and teaching on the history of World War II.
Yet, while Spiegelman’s comic art provided an important intervention in
Holocaust memory culture, inspiring dozens of subsequent comics and graphic
novels, until very recently no other example of graphic narration
thematizing the darkest period of the German past has received comparable
scholarly attention. In 2018, however, Nora Krug published* Belonging: A
German Reckons with History and Home*, in which the author examines her own
family’s history in relationship to National Socialism from a German
perspective. While Krug’s graphic narrative provides a crucial counterpoint
to Spiegelman’s *Maus* in its exploration of the concepts of *Mitläufer*
and *Täter*, *Belonging *also offers entry points to a number of more
recent debates in Holocaust studies, German studies, cultural studies,
memory studies, and beyond.

This two-part panel series seeks presentations on how to read and teach
Nora Krug’s *Belonging. *In particular, we are interested in *Belonging’s*
formal, cultural, and narrative strategies as well as how these techniques
diverge from or are in dialog with *Maus* and other texts thematizing the
Holocaust. With the intention of positioning Krug’s graphic narrative in
relationship to a number of debates in German studies, while interrogating
the its many different ways of engaging the Holocaust, post-memory, and
trans- and intergenerational trauma, this panel series seeks diverse
proposals from interdisciplinary perspectives to introduce scholars inside
and outside of comics studies to the possibilities of engaging graphic
narrative in their research and teaching.

Potential topics include:

·      Photography in *Belonging* and Holocaust memory culture

·      Erasure and Presence in *Belonging*

·      Objects, material culture, and exhibition strategies in *Belonging*

·      Teaching *Belonging* and *Maus* in Dialog

·      *Belonging *in the context of memory studies

·      The tensions between text and image in *Belonging*

·      *Belonging* and Discourses in Holocaust studies

·      *Belonging *in comparison to the representation of other important
historical and collective traumatic events, such as GDR history, WWI, etc.

·      Autographics and Graphic Biography

·      Issues of translation in *Belonging*

Please send a 350-word abstract and short bio by January 31st, 2021, to Biz
Nijdam (elizabeth.nijdam at gmail.com) and John Benjamin (
john.benjamin at westpoint.edu).
  GSA Comics Studies III: German-language Comics Journalism

Comics journalism, also referred to as graphic journalism or comic
reportage, uses the comic form to cover news or nonfiction events. It has
been an important genre for comics and graphic novels since the publication
of Joe Sacco’s *Palestine* (1993), but the genre also evokes earlier forms
of news illustration as well as the tradition of the editorial cartoon.
While many examples of comics journalism are published online in forums
such as *The Nib* <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://thenib.com/__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq4FansH9$ >*, **Graphic News*
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.graphic-news.com/?lang=en__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq_MHbjRi$ >*,* and *Symbolia
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.symboliamag.com/__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWqzWNMXJr$ >* (2012-2014), comics journalism has also been
appearing in the international press in the last decade, with popular news
outlets, such as *The New York Times*, regularly featuring examples of
comic reportage. Similarly, in German-speaking Europe, comics journalism
has emerged as an essential forum for comics artists, including Reinhard
Kleist, Birgit Wehye, and Barbara Yelin, looking to publish in newspapers
and journals, such as the *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,* and
*Tagesspiegel*. This is particularly true for coverage on contemporary
global migration, which includes graphic novel such as Peter’s
Eickmeyer’s* Liebe
deinen Nächsten: Auf Rettungsfahrt im Mittelmeer an Bord der Aquarius *(2017)
and Olivier Kugler’s *Dem Krieg entronnen: Begegnungen mit Syrern auf der
Flucht* (2017) as well as shorter projects such as Reinhard Kleist’s "Kawergosk
- 5 Sterne"
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://info.arte.tv/de/kawergosk-5-sterne-eine-comicreportage-von-reinhard-kleist__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq6DUpvEM$ >
published in *arte *online, Barbara Yelin’s "Es passiert"
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.barbarayelin.de/blog/2018/10/13/es-passiert__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWqzP3hHT4$ > in the *Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung*, and Birgit Wehye’s “Lebenslinien”
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://birgit-weyhe.de/weitere-seite__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWqzp22h6A$ > in the *Tagesspiegel.*

However, comics art’s ability to capture real-life events for news
organizations, publications or publishers (in graphic novel format)
continues to be perceived as fraught. With the rules for comics journalism
not yet codified, many examples of graphic journalism don’t even cite their
sources, while others demonstrate a great commitment to journalistic
transparency. Furthermore, while some comics artists work independently on
their pieces of comic reportages, others collaborate with journalists who
contribute fact-based expertise on the topics chosen (*Alphabet des
Ankommens*, 2017). Yet, even while the public continues to debate the
validity of comics journalism, it is unequivocal that, as a genre, it is at
an all-time high.

This panel seeks presentations on the efficacy and complexity of
German-language graphic journalism. How does the genre of comics journalism
mimic, contradict, or augment the strategies of more traditional forms of
news journalism? What role does comic journalism play in discourses on the
politics of media representation? What interventions is comics journalism
making in the contemporary media landscape? And how does comics journalism
create or increase awareness of pressing current issues?

Potential texts include:
Peter’s Eickmeyer’s* Liebe deinen Nächsten: Auf Rettungsfahrt im Mittelmeer
an Bord der Aquarius *(2017) Olivier Kugler’s *Dem Krieg entronnen:
Begegnungen mit Syrern auf der Flucht* (2017) Ulli Lust’s
*Fashionvictims*.*Trendverächter:
Bildkolumnen und Minireportagen aus Berlin* (2008)

Tim Dinter’s *Cargo: Comic Journalism: Israel, Germany* (2005)

Reinhard Kleist’s "Kawergosk - 5 Sterne"
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://info.arte.tv/de/kawergosk-5-sterne-eine-comicreportage-von-reinhard-kleist__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq6DUpvEM$ >
published in *arte *online

Barbara Yelin’s "Es passiert"
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.barbarayelin.de/blog/2018/10/13/es-passiert__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWqzP3hHT4$ > in the *Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung*

Birgit Wehye’s “Lebenslinien” <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://birgit-weyhe.de/weitere-seite__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWqzp22h6A$ > in
the *Tagesspiegel.*

*Alphabet des Ankommens* <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://alphabetdesankommens.de/__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq96xWEtn$ >

Please send a 350-word abstract and short bio by January 31st, 2021, to Biz
Nijdam (elizabeth.nijdam at gmail.com) and John Benjamin (
john.benjamin at westpoint.edu).

-- 
*Dr. Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam*  PhD (She, Her, Hers
<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/gender-diversity/pronouns/__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq9_a5SGY$ >)
Assistant Professor of German Studies
Dept. of Central, Eastern, & Northern European Studies
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam
Traditional Territory
919-1873 East Mall | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z1 Canada | Phone 778 697 6294
biz.nijdam at ubc.ca | *elizabeth.nijdam at gmail.com
<elizabeth.nijdam at gmail.com>* | @bizabeth <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://twitter.com/@bizabeth__;!!KGKeukY!lCbEVWQQ6wC2JnL_H5LCo4OpGqa199DDdjOwPw8ICLSdGvbQDCkX19QpL5nzQTCetMcWq6XwzFPG$ >
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