Anne Magnussen – författare

Spanish comics represent an exciting and diverse field, yet one that is often overlooked by scholars outside of Spain. Spanish Comics offers an overview on contemporary scholarship on Spanish comics, focusing on a wide range of comics dating from early comics history in 1875-1939; the Francoist dictatorship, 1939-1975; the Political Transition, 1970-1985; and Democratic Spain from the early 1980s. Touching on themes of memory, gender, regional identities, and history, the chapters in this collection demonstrate the historical and cultural significance of Spanish comics, particularly as it relates to transnational and memory studies.

Spanish comics represent an exciting and diverse field, yet one that is often overlooked outside of Spain. Spanish Comics offers an overview on contemporary scholarship on Spanish comics, focusing on a wide range of comics dating from the Francoist dictatorship, 1939-1975; the Political Transition, 1970-1985; and Democratic Spain since the early 1980s including the emergence of the graphic novel in 2000. Touching on themes of memory, gender, regional identities, and history, the chapters in this collection demonstrate the historical and cultural significance of Spanish comics.

History is never just about the past. It is a powerful resource used to shape public space, communities and relationships of power. In Narratives, Uses of History, and Power in Gonzales, Texas, 1900–1940, Anne Magnussen explores how a confrontation in 1835 between American immigrants and the Mexican army evolved from local history into the famous and powerful “Come and Take It” narrative used to promote business ambitions, define community values, and establish ethnoracial and social hierarchies.Drawing on a rich array of sources—from newspapers, census records, maps, monuments, and organizational archives—Magnussen reveals how Anglo-Texans, Mexican-Texans, African-Texans, and German-Texans negotiated power, belonging, and identity in a rapidly changing society. As Gonzales confronted industrialization, immigration, racial segregation, economic crisis, and the Texas Centennial, historical narratives became tools for both inclusion and exclusion, legitimacy and resistance.Far more than a local history, this book offers a case study of how communities use the past to shape their futures. It illuminates the complex relationships among memory, heritage, race, place, and power in Texas and the United States, while providing fresh insights into how historical narratives emerge, compete, and challenge each other over time.