Comics are no longer just children’s stuff – they have their place in cultural and literary history, even if this has not yet been widely accepted in academic circles. Andreas Platthaus, literary editor of the FAZ and passionate comic connoisseur, emphasized before a conference in the German Literature Archive in Marbach: “There are incredible gaps in important German comic stories. If Marbach takes its function seriously, it urgently needs to step up its game here.”
Andreas Platthaus, literary editor of the FAZ and comic connoisseur.
IMAGO / Horst Galuschka
The archive’s collection currently includes around 600 comics and graphic novels, most of which come from estates. A systematic approach is still missing. Platthaus sees this as an opportunity: “A lot of illustrators think a lot about what happens to their work archives. Marbach could play a pioneering role here and become an important collection point.”
The conference in Marbach is intended to initiate a discussion about how comics can be specifically collected and scientifically prepared – a first step on what will be a long journey.
Comic and graphic novel: storytelling in pictures
An international conference of the German Literature Archive Marbach (DLA) in cooperation with the German Forum for Art History Paris and the Maison Heinrich Heine (November 21st-22nd, 2024)
