A former resistance fighter receiving a comic book screenwriter award, who would have believed it in 2022? It is however the divine surprise reserved, upstream of the Angoulême Festival, for Madeleine Riffaud, 97, winner with Jean-David Morvan of the René-Goscinny prize for Madeleine, resistant (Dupuis), amazing and moving testimony on his commitment, from the age of 17, during the Second World War.
→ READ. The Angoulême Festival awards a prize to former resistance fighter Madeleine Riffaud
The prize for young screenwriter was also awarded to an album on the Resistance: of the livingsigned Louise Moaty and Raphaël Meltz (Éditions 2024), with Simon Roussin in pencil, which traces the true story of the Musée de l’homme network, drawing all the texts and dialogues from the historical documentation of the time.
Two comic strips combining historical rigor and narrative ambition emblematic of the abundant recent production of the 9e art on this subject. As proof, three books are competing for the Fauve d’or for best album at the Angoulême Festival this year: of the livingbut also Underground Lifeby Camille Lavaud Benito (The hammerhead sharks), returning in an (too) deconstructed way to the attack on the Banque de France train, and the excellent third volume of Émile Bravo’s ambitious tetralogy, Spirou, hope despite everythingin which the famous groom discovers the Resistance.
” Not new “
If we add to this mule headsby Étienne Gendrin (The Bubble Box), on the secret action of a group of Guides de France, jury prize for Christian comics, and the successful saga of Children of the Resistanceby Vincent Dugomier and Benoît Ers (Le Lombard), which will be the subject of an animation in Angoulême, it can fill a library shelf!
→ THE FACTS. The Christian comics prize awarded to “Tête de mule”
How to explain such an upsurge? “The enthusiasm for any form of narration of the history of the Resistance is not new, nuance Cécile Vast, historian specializing in the Resistance. It dates back to the 1940s and essentially revolves around the question of commitment. » “At the Liberation, comics glorify the clandestine and invisible fighter of the maquis, in order to unify society and repair the wounds of defeat and collaboration”, says Xavier Aumage, archivist at the National Resistance Museum in Champigny-sur-Marne.
The offer then dried up with the 1949 law on publications for young people, which regulated violence in the illustrated. The return of De Gaulle to power in 1958 and the inauguration in 1960 of the Memorial of Fighting France, at Mont-Valérien, sparked a renewed interest in the period and the albums released at the Liberation.
Need identification
“We had to wait until the 2000s to witness a real explosion of the theme in the 9e art, continues Xavier Aumage. The creations address the action of ordinary men and women, often in urban settings. Once upon a time in France (series prize at the Angoulême Festival in 2011), which takes place in the Paris region, does not hesitate to evoke the dark years in its most controversial aspects. »
The Sarkozy and Hollande presidencies, which put more emphasis on the image of resistance fighters, then the 2015 attacks, increased the need for identification with individuals sacrificing themselves for the good of society. “The resistants preferred the reasons for living to life, as one of them, the philosopher Georges Canguilhem, said, quotes historian Olivier Loubes. They believed in a future that is not necessarily written or fatal. They opposed Vichy, Nazism, but also defended the idea that democracy must be combative. »
“After the attacks, I couldn’t talk about victims anymore, confides Mathieu Rebière, professor of history and geography and author of an album on the spectacular escape of a resistance fighter from the Lyon prison of Montluc (1). So I jumped on this individual feat which is also that of collective solidarity. »
“A golden age of the graphic representation of history”
The Second World War is today, by far, the period most often treated by historical comics, assures Thierry Lemaire, editor-in-chief of Story boxesonline magazine on the subject. “The subject is more telling than Napoleon III or the Sumerians and often evokes heroic and tragic trajectories. It’s horrible to say, but a swastika or Hitler’s face on the cover is said to boost sales by 10%! »
The increasing quality of historical comics in general, and on the Resistance in particular, is also linked to the fact that “more and more authors are trained as historians and do a lot of documentation to be as realistic as possible, while having a critical look at the sources”, continues Thierry Lemaire. A desire for transmission animates these authors, well aware of the disappearance of the last actors of the Resistance. “I co-wrote the screenplay for a series about Irena Sendlerowa, who saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto, says Jean-David Morvan. I couldn’t meet her, she died ten years earlier. This frustration pushed me to collect the testimony of Madeleine Riffaud. »
→ MAINTENANCE. Madeleine Riffaud: “As long as we have strength, we must offer it to others”
These biographies, which have flourished since 2009, have the merit of highlighting “a personal memory that is representative of a collective memory”, observes historian Isabelle Delorme. Corn “we must not forget that these albums give a partial vision, the point of view of a witness, which should not replace the work of the historian”, tempers Cécile Vast, who nevertheless recommends them to her students in college, because they are a good means of mediation, by their power of immersion and emotion. “The imagery summons our imagination in a different way. What effect of reality is there behind this recreation of the past? The historian that I am is very excited about this, enthuses Olivier Loubes. We live in a golden age of the graphic representation of history. »
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The program of 49e Angouleme Festival
A retrospective will be devoted to the American avant-garde author Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan), the festival’s 2021 grand prize, and another to Christophe Blain (Quai d’Orsay). Two exhibitions will focus on the screenwriting work of René Goscinny and on Deadly Adele, an editorial phenomenon in children’s literature (Bayard Éditions). Among the many encounters, Catherine Meurisse (The Young Woman and the Sea) will give, Thursday, March 17 at 5:30 p.m., at Espace Franquin, a master class led by Stéphane Dreyfus, journalist at The cross. Full program: www.bdangouleme.com
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