Thierry Groensteen Explained

Thierry Groensteen (pronounced as /fr/; born 18 April 1957, Uccle, Brussels) is one of the leading French-speaking comics researchers and theorists, whose work has found influence beyond that field.

Career

In 1984, Groensteen became the editor-in-chief of the old fanzine Schtroumpf : Les Cahiers de la bande dessinée, transforming it into one of the first publications that would lead to serious academic criticism of comics in France and beyond. He integrated the publishing company into discussions on art and culture. His work as the organizer of the famous Colloque de Cérisy, in 1987, titled "Bande dessinée, récit et modernité" ("Comics, narrative and modernity"), was also an important contribution.

As the director of Angoulême's,^[1] during the early 1990s, he worked on many projects such as exhibitions and their catalogues as well as on monographs on several authors, or themes and collections presented by the Angoulême Museum. He was also the director of the first run of its official magazine, 9ème Art.

He was the founder and editor at Éditions de L'An 2, before this publishing house was integrated by Actes Sud. He is a lecturer at the École européenne supérieure des Arts et technologies de l'image. He is also a key member of Oubapo association.^[2]

Bibliography

Books

Thierry Groensteen has published countless articles and many books, all of which have been important or even broaching of some themes. He has penned, among other titles:

• Book: Töpffer, l'invention de la bande dessinée ["Töpffer. The Invention of Comics"] . 1994. Hermann. Paris. 2-7056-6214-6., co-written with Benoît Peeters.
• Book: Systéme de la bande dessinée, ["System of Comics", issued in English in 2007 by the University Press of Mississippi]. 1999. Presses universitaires de France. Paris. 2-13-050183-4.
• Book: Lignes de vie. Le visage dessiné ["Lines of Life: The Drawn Face"]. 2003. Mosquito. Saint-Egrève. 2-908551-52-7.
• Book: Un objet culturel non identifié ["An unidentified cultural object"]. 2006. Éd. de l'An 2. [Angoulême]. 2-84856-078-9.
• Book: La Bande dessinée mode d'emploi ["Comics: A User's Manual"]. 2007. les Impressions nouvelles. [Bruxelles]. 978-2-87449-041-5.
• Book: La bande dessinée: son histoire et ses maîtres. 2009. Skira-Flammarion. Paris. 978-2-08-122757-6.
• Book: Bande dessinée et narration (Système de la bande dessinée, 2). 2011. PUF. Paris. 978-2-13-058487-2. . Translated by Ann Miller as Comics and narration, Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2013.

Articles in English

• Nemo: The Classic Comics Library. The Schulz System. Why Peanuts work. 31/32. 26–41. 1992.
• Encyclopedia: Popular Culture and Mass Communication in Twentieth-Century France. The evolution of the cultural status of the comic strip: an Art-Form in search of Recognition. 207–219. Edwin Mellen. Lewinston. 1992.
• Encyclopedia: Couleur directe. painted artwork: seduction by images. 10–75. Kunst der Comics. Thurn. 1993.
• Encyclopedia: The Sixties. Comic Strip and Newspaper Cartoons: The Dawn of a Revolution. 132–148. Philip Wilson. London. 1997. Mellor. David Alan.
• Encyclopedia: Forging a new medium. The Comic Strip in the Nineteenth Century. Töpffer: the originator of the modern comic strip. 105–114. VUBPress. Bruxelles. 1998.
• International Journal of Comic Art. Gustave Doré's comics. 2. 2. 111–120. Fall 2000.
• Encyclopedia: Ever Meulen, Verve. A matter of lines. 17–26. Éd. de l'An 2. Angoulême. 2006.
• European Comic Art. A Few Words about The System of Comics and More…. 1. 1. 87–93. Spring 2008.
• Encyclopedia: A Comics Studies Reader. Heer. Jeet. Worcester. Kent. Why Are Comics Still in Search of Cultural Legitimization. 3–11. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson. 2008.
• Encyclopedia: A Comics Studies Reader. Heer. Jeet. Worcester. Kent. The Impossible Definition. 124–131. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson. 2008.
• European Comic Art. The Monstrator, the Recitant, and the Shadow of the Narrator. 3. 1. 1–21. Spring 2010. 10.3828/eca.2010.2 . Groensteen . Thierry .

External links

• Thierry Groensteen's personal website

Notes and References

1. News: Onze auteurs pour cent maîtres de la BD. 6 November 2010. CharenteLibre. French. 5 July 2012.
2. Jörn Ahrens, Arno Meteling (eds.), Comics and the City: Urban Space in Print, Picture and Sequence, Continuum, 2010, p. 245 n. 1.