Raccontare la memoria coloniale: sguardi multipli su un archivio fotografico

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the essential characteristics of memory comics, i.e. those comics that represent the process of recovering the memory of a traumatic event, especially a war. Working on a corpus of 11 albums by authors from different countries (Canada, France, Italy, the USA) and dealing with different wars (Algerian war, Balkans wars, Spanish civil war, Vietnam war, WWI, WWII), we will try to determine which formal elements recur and constitute a foundational element of this emerging genre, whose existence we will thus demonstrate. We will also examine the semiotic co-text of occurrences of “words of memory” in order to see if they are positioned in crucial places in the narrative development.