Joe Sacco: Truth or Objectivity In contrast to Jacques Tardi (Blog Tardi), Joe Sacco approaches the subject of war journalistically. War is not fiction for him, but documentary re-creation. He is not a frontline reporter, sending back his immediate impressions. He writes Comics and is much too slow for that: he takes several years to…
2015
2015, Literary trends across Europe
Your Book Year Ahead
by Rosie Goldsmith •
One of my roles as your Blogger-in-UK-residence is to share any Good News about International writing on ‘our’ side of the Channel – and I’ve just been served up a large delicious helping of brain food which I want to share with you to give your new year a healthy start. Thanks to the great work of…
2015, Innovations in the digital field
Innovations in the digital field/ Innovationen im digitalen Feld
by Walter Grond •
“Online first” was a catchphrase in the media world. Is this now arriving in the book sector as well? More and more established publishing houses are setting up eBook imprints. More than half of the top 100 titles on the Kindle bestseller list are by self-published authors. The serial novel and smaller formats are enjoying…
2015
Germany (and France) On My Mind
by Rosie Goldsmith •
Germany is on my mind – it often is. A country that both fascinates and frustrates me, I lived there for nearly a decade, studied the language, as a BBC journalist witnessed some ‘major German events’ (Berlin Wall! Unification!) and today still spend a lot of my life thinking/reading/talking about Germany. This weekend in Paris,…
Comic and Graphic Novel
War in Comic-books/ Der Krieg im Comic. Part/ Teil 1: Jacques Tardi
by Christian Gasser •
There have always been war Comics. As elsewhere in popular culture, they satisfy the need both for heroic action and pacifist debate. As a result, they frequently suffer the same problems as the portrayal of war in films: even the best and most pacifist intentions are undermined by the power of the images, and distorted…
2014, Comic and Graphic Novel
Graphiv novel – Literature?/ Literatur?
by Vea Kaiser •
Auf den Vortrag von Christian Gasser bei den Europäischen Literaturtagen 2013 freute ich mich schon seit zwölf Stunden. Auf dem nächtlichen Weg von der Eröffnungsveranstaltung ins Hotel zog er ein unendlich süffisantes, charmantes Lächeln auf und bemerkte: „Seit es den Terminus Graphic Novel gibt, wird einer wie ich zu solchen Veranstaltungen eingeladen. In Frankreich ist…
2014, Comic and Graphic Novel, e-literature
The Digital Graphic Novel
by Gottfried Gusenbauer •
At the 2014 NEXT COMIC Festival in Linz, Austria, Daniel Lieske presented his Wormworld Saga in the Ars Electronica Centre. It’s a fantasy adventure story, a graphic novel in digital format, which has enchanted readers with its powerful imagery; it’s been translated into 19 languages and read by well over a million people. It’s a…