Reframing Western Comics in Translation

Nicolas Martinez is Honorary Research Associate in Translation Studies in the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University, UK. He is a member of the EU COST Action iCOn-MICS (Investigation on Comics and Graphic Novels from the Iberian Cultural Area).

"Reframing Western Comics in Translation is both an engrossing exploration of one of the classic comics in the Western genre, Charlier and Giraud’s Blueberry series, and an innovative, illuminating analysis of how translation shapes the circulation of graphic narratives across languages, cultures and media."Loredana Polezzi, Stony Brook University"Martinez's innovative monograph tackles a series of questions that are central to the translation and transnational circulation of the Western Bandes dessinées genre. The book's exemplary interdisciplinary framework brings together concerns regarding the transmedial nature of the comics genre and a view of translation as a social practice. This dual focus offers an original and innovative reading of the complex forms of rewriting and agency that shape the circulation of comics across national and transnational contexts and time periods. Such interdisciplinarity also reminds us of the value of breaking down barriers and reinvigorating our subjects of study through the encounter of different intellectual starting points."Cristina Marinetti, Cardiff University, UK"An immensely readable account of the Wild West in comic strip form, and how this crosses linguistic borders. Sharp shooting per se, but also an analytic model for the theories and practices of Translation Studies."Laurence Grove, University of Glasgow, Professor of French and Text/Image Studies, Director, Stirling Maxwell Centre

• Introduction: Comics in translationPart I Western comics as translation1 The field of Franco-Belgian Western comics after the Second World War2 Intermediality as translation and the Western canonPart II Reframing comics—Case study: The Blueberry Western series 3 The Blueberry series in French 4 Blueberry in the Anglosphere: Translation, agency, and the “moving line” 5 Blueberry in Spain: Francoism and multimodal censorship Conclusion: The international circulation of comics as cultural goods