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| Les Cahiers de la BD | |
|---|---|
| Title | Les Cahiers de la BD |
| Category | Comics studies |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
Les Cahiers de la BD was a French periodical devoted to the study, criticism, and chronicling of bande dessinée. It engaged with creators and institutions across France, Belgium, Canada, United States, and Japan, offering essays, interviews, and archival research that intersected with the practices of Hergé, André Franquin, Jean Giraud, René Goscinny, and Albert Uderzo. Contributors frequently referenced collections held by Bibliothèque nationale de France, museums such as the Musée du Louvre, and festivals including the Festival d'Angoulême and the Salon du livre de Paris. The journal functioned as a node linking creators, critics, and scholars across networks centered on institutions like Centre Pompidou and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Founded amid debates that involved figures from Pierre Bourdieu-adjacent cultural sociology and practitioners associated with Tintin and Spirou traditions, the periodical emerged alongside contemporaneous publications tied to Métal Hurlant, Pilote, and scholarly ventures around Comics Studies. Early editorial correspondence referenced exhibitions at the Centre national de la bande dessinée et de l'image and academic programs at Université de Strasbourg and Université de Liège. Editorial meetings brought together critics influenced by the historiography of Georges Sadoul, the archival practices of Jacques Tardi, and theoretical frames associated with Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault. During its run, the magazine documented turns in production involving publishers such as Dargaud, Casterman, Dupuis, Éditions Glénat, and Les Éditions du Lombard.
The editorial line combined auteurist readings resonant with analyses of Hergé and Moebius (Jean Giraud) with institutional critique referencing Centre Pompidou exhibitions and curatorial projects at Musée de la Bande Dessinée. Thematic dossiers examined seriality in works by Jacques Tardi, narrative space in albums by Hergé and Franquin, and political registers visible in the output of Marjane Satrapi, Riad Sattouf, Chantal Montellier, and Art Spiegelman. Other recurrent themes included translation studies pertaining to Tintin in America, reception studies concerning Lucky Luke, and material culture analyses connected to publications by Émile Bravo. The journal also staged debates engaging editors from Les Humanoïdes Associés, historians from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and curators from Musée d'Orsay.
Contributors ranged from scholars affiliated with Université de Montréal, Johns Hopkins University, and King's College London to critics and creators such as Frédéric Boilet, Lewis Trondheim, Philippe Druillet, Claire Brétécher, and Enki Bilal. Notable articles included archival unpackings of Hergé's notebooks referencing holdings at Musée Hergé, iconographic readings of Spirou et Fantasio pages, and interviews with Jacques Lob and Jean-Claude Mézières. Special issues profiled movements linked to ligne claire, the influence of American underground comix figures like Robert Crumb, and cross-cultural exchanges with Japanese mangaka such as Osamu Tezuka and Naoki Urasawa. Critical exchanges involved scholars like Scott McCloud, translators who worked on Astérix editions, and legal scholars citing cases involving Dargaud and Casterman.
Published in French with occasional bilingual summaries in partnership with institutions such as Centre national du livre and distributors connected to FNAC, the periodical appeared in print and later in digital formats mirroring transitions adopted by Le Monde and specialist journals like Rockyrama. Copies circulated through libraries including Bibliothèque nationale de France, university collections at Université Paris Nanterre, and international libraries such as Library of Congress and British Library. Special collaborations led to boxed sets with Éditions Denoël and curated reprints co-published with Les Humanoïdes Associés and Casterman. Distribution channels reached festivals like the Festival d'Angoulême and retail networks in Brussels, Montreal, and Tokyo.
The magazine influenced curatorial practices at venues like the Centre Pompidou and academic programs at Université de Liège and Université de Rennes 2; critics compared its rigor to scholarship in journals such as ImageTexT and initiatives at Columbia University. Its essays were cited in monographs on Hergé, retrospectives on Moebius, and catalogues devoted to Enki Bilal and Jean Giraud. The publication shaped debates about copyright invoked in litigation involving Dargaud and Éditions Glénat, and informed pedagogical syllabi at Université Laval and Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis. Internationally, its translations and reprints fostered dialogues with editors from Raw Magazine, The Comics Journal, and academic projects at Yale University.
Archival deposits exist in collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the archives of the Centre national de la bande dessinée et de l'image, with additional files held at university special collections including Université de Strasbourg and Université de Montréal. Its editorial correspondence with creators such as Hergé and Franquin informed later catalogues raisonnés and institutional exhibitions at Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris and the Palais de Tokyo. The journal's legacy persists in contemporary scholarship produced at centers including Centre Pompidou's research units, graduate theses at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and ongoing programs at the Festival d'Angoulême and regional museums across Belgium and France.
Category:Comics journals Category:French magazines