The genre of comics has had a tumultuous career throughout the twentieth century: it has careened from wildly popular to being perceived as the source of society’s ills. Despite having been relegated to the lowest rung of the artistic ladder for the better part of the twentieth century, comics has been gaining in quality and respectability over the last couple of decades. My introductory chapter provides a broad, basic introduction to the genre of comics––its historical development, its different forms, and a survey of comics criticism over the last thirty years. In chapter two I clarify the nature of comics by comparing it to literature, film, and pictorial art, thereby highlighting its hybrid nature. It has elements in common with all of these, and yet it is a distinct genre. My primary focus is on Chris Ware, whom I introduce in chapter three, a brilliant creator who has garnered widespread recognition and respect. His magnum opus is Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, the story of four generations of Corrigan men, most of whom have been negligent in raising their children. Jimmy Corrigan, as a result, is an introverted, insecure thirty–something–year–old man. Among comics creators Ware is unusual in that his story does not address socio–political issues, like most of his peers, which I discuss in chapter four. Jimmy Corrigan is an isolated tale with a very specific focus. Ware’s narrative is somewhat like those of William Faulkner, whose stories have a narrow focus, revolving around the lives of the inhabitants of Yoknapatawpha county, rather than encompassing the vast landscape of national socio–political concerns. Also, in chapter five I explore the intriguing combination of realist and Gothic elements––normally at opposite ends of the generic continuum––that Ware merges in Jimmy Corrigan. This feature is especially interesting because it is another way that his work explores aspects of hybridity. Finally, in my conclusion I examine the current state of comics in American culture and its future prospects for development and success, as well as the potential for future comics criticism.

Au cours des années soixante et soixante-dix, des mouvements de contestation sociale, politique et culturelle voient le jour dans différents pays occidentaux. Les nombreuses similitudes que présentent ces mouvements, en dépit de leur éloignement géographique, conduisent à s’interroger sur la circulation de pratiques et d’idées contre-culturelles. La présente étude apporte une pierre à cet édifice en construction à travers l’analyse de la partie graphique de la revue « satirique et neurasthénique » El Papus, qui voit le jour le 20 octobre 1973. Le parti pris dans cette étude est de considérer que la contre-culture ne se manifeste pas uniquement dans sa dimension underground et que des formes d’expression empruntent les circuits de production et de diffusion classiques. Pour atteindre l’objectif assigné dans ce travail, le concept de « contre-culture » sera le point de départ de notre réflexion. Nous retracerons dans la première partie le contexte de diffusion de la contre-culture en Espagne et proposerons des pistes de réflexion pour comprendre comment les collaborateurs de El Papus se sont familiarisés avec de nouvelles idées et esthétiques venues de l’étranger, et tout particulièrement de France et des États-Unis. L’analyse que nous proposons dans la deuxième partie reposera sur un double objectif : montrer dans quelle mesure El Papus présente les caractéristiques esthétiques de la contre-culture (transgression, laideur et « mauvais goût »), et mettre en lumière la façon dont les collaborateurs de la revue se sont appropriés trois sources d’inspiration esthétique : la revue satirique française Hara-Kiri, le magazine américain Mad, et la bande dessinée underground américaine également. / During the Sixties and the Seventies several social, political and cultural movements appear in different Western countries. The many similarities that these movements shared in spite of the geographical distance among them lead to wonder about the flows and exchanges of countercultural ideas and practices. This study adds its bit by means of the analysis of the « satirical and neurasthenic » magazine El Papus, which is born the 20th October 1973. The stance in this study is to consider that counterculture does not manifest only in its underground dimension and that some expression forms use classical production and distribution circuits. In order to attain the aim assigned to this work the concept of « counterculture » will be the starting point of our analysis. In the first part, we will explore the context of counterculture circulation in Spain and will propose clues to understand how El Papus cartoonists had access to the new ideas and aesthetic features coming from abroad, particularly from France and the United States. The analysis that we propose in the second part will have a double aim: to show how El Papus presents the aesthetic features belonging to counterculture (transgression, ugliness and « bad taste ») and demonstrate how the magazine cartoonists had three sources of aesthetic inspiration: the French satirical magazine Hara-Kiri, the American magazine Mad and also the American underground comic strip scene. / Durante los años sesenta y setenta en diferentes países occidentales aparecen movimientos de contestación social, política y cultural. Las numerosas similitudes entre ellos, a pesar de la distancia geográfica que los separaba, suscitan reflexiones sobre la circulación de prácticas e ideas contraculturales. El presente estudio es una contribución a este edificio en construcción a través del análisis de la parte gráfica de la revista « satírica y neurasténica » El Papus, que aparece por primera vez el 20 de octubre de 1973. Este estudio considera que la contracultura no se manifiesta únicamente en su dimensión underground y que ciertas formas de expresión circulan a través de vías de producción y de difusión clásicas. El concepto de « contracultura » será el punto de partida de nuestro estudio. En la primera parte expondremos el contexto de difusión de la contracultura en España y propondremos pistas de reflexión para entender cómo los colaboradores de la revista llegaron a conocer las nuevas ideas y estéticas provenientes del extranjero, en particular de Francia y Estados Unidos. El análisis de la segunda parte tendrá un doble objetivo: mostrar en qué medida El Papus presenta las características estéticas de la contracultura (transgresión, fealdad y « mal gusto ») y poner de relieve de qué manera los colaboradores de la revista se apropiaron de tres fuentes de inspiración estética: la revista satírica francesa Hara-Kiri, la americana Mad y también el cómic underground americano.

Cette thèse a pour objet d’étude un sujet : les chiens. Après le phénomène des tamagotchis, la sortie du jeu vidéo Nintendogs en 2005 a créé un animal inédit : le chien virtuel « réaliste ». En tant que nouveau loisir, les jeux vidéo représentent aujourd’hui une industrie internationale puissante au croisement des arts d’une culture populaire : la bande dessinée, l’animation, etc. Plus généralement, la révolution numérique en cours dans nos sociétés témoigne de la place centrale des écrans et de la communication. Comment ces médias ont permis de redéfinir nos rapports aux chiens, ont influencé et éduqué notre perception du « genre animal », allant jusqu’à lui conférer une toute nouvelle dimension est la question soulevée par cette thèse. Nous avons eu recours à un large éventail de références médiatiques, allant du grand au petit écran, en l´occurrence du cinéma à la Game Boy, en passant par la publicité, des classiques de la littérature à l´album de vignettes autocollantes Panini, en passant par la bande dessinée, des œuvres célèbres dans le monde entier aux œuvres méconnues. Les multiples représentations du chien nous annoncent l’avènement du chien virtuel.En somme, le but est de comprendre l’histoire de l’illusion du mouvement, de l’illustration des livres à l’interaction avec un animal virtuel : faire l’archéologie du chien des jeux vidéo. Écrire une histoire du chien où la réalité et la virtualité s’entremêlent. / The topic of this doctoral thesis are dogs. After the Tamagotchi phenomenon, the release of the video game Nintendogs in 2005 created a new animal: the “realistic” virtual dog. As a new leisure activity, video games represent today an internationally influential industry which is situated at a crossing point with popular art culture: comics, animation etc. More generally, the digital revolution our societies are currently witnessing shows the importance of monitor screens and of communication.The central question of this thesis is how these media have come to redefine our relationship to dogs and to influence our perception of animals in a completely new dimension. A large inventory of references of different media was used going from cinema to Gameboy via publicity, from literary classics to Panini sticker albums via comics, from oeuvres which are famous all over the world to oeuvres which are usually not considered as such. The numerous representations of dogs in these domains announce the advent of the virtual dog.In conclusion, our objective is to understand the history of the illusion of movement, of the relationship between books and virtual animals, i.e. to trace the archaeology of dogs in video games. To write a history of dogs in which reality and virtuality are no longer clearly separable.

Cette thèse porte sur la carrière musicale de Joseph Kohaut (1734–1777), l’un des derniers luthistes dans l’Europe des Lumières. Appartenant à la deuxième génération des musiciens originaires des pays de la couronne de Bohême, ce luthiste, né à Vienne et décédé à Paris, représente un cas intéressant de la migration des musiciens au XVIIIe siècle. L’étude se consacre à la présentation des origines et de la famille proche du musicien (son père Jacob Joseph Kohaut et son frère aîné Karl Kohaut), ainsi qu’à la carrière musicale du luthiste proprement dite. Le patronage aristocratique s’y révèle le moteur principal aussi pour son œuvre, y compris ses opéras comiques qui contribuèrent à la notoriété de Kohaut également en déhors de la France. Enfin, cette étude traite les œuvres des deux frères Kohaut en s’intéressant aux attributions douteuses et propose un catalogue thématique du corpus entier indexant toutes les sources connues. / This thesis focuses on the musical career of Joseph Kohaut (1734–1777), one of the last known lute players in Europe of the Enlightenment. Belonging to the second generation of the musicians originated from the Czech lands, this lutenist, born in Vienna and dead in Paris, represents an interesting case of the migration of musicians in the 18th century Europe. After having examinated the origines of the musician and his close family (his father Jacob Joseph Kohaut and his older brother Karl Kohaut), the study analyses his own musical career. The aristocratic patronage becomes apparent as an important reason for his musical production, including his comic operas that made him famous also outside France. Finally, this study addresses the compositions of both brothers Kohaut, taking interest in problematic attributions, and offers a thematic catalogue of all works registering their all known sources.

This paper examines the expansive history of literary tomboys in the century preceding Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868). Applying concepts from gender performativity theory, it explores earlier and previously overlooked portrayals of tomboys (or, alternatively, "hoydens" or "romps"), especially in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's A Trip to Scarborough (1777), Isaac Bickerstaffe's The Romp; A Comic Opera in Two Acts (1786), Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1817), and E.D.E.N. Southworth's The Hidden Hand (1859). Because the tomboy phenomenon emphasizes that gender roles must be learned and can be resisted, tomboy characters are implicitly making a feminist point. As such, in the gap between Austen and Southworth, texts with minor and derogatory mentions of tomboys connect tomboyism with the prevailing anti-feminism of the early nineteenth century. By examining the developmental arc of tomboyism throughout literature and culture, this essay develops a greater understanding of how tomboyism fits within different historical periods and was a fully recognizable type in Britain and America decades before Alcott's Jo March supposedly normalized it in popular culture.

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Individuals who consider themselves both scholars and fans represent not only a subculture of fandom but also a subculture of academia. These liminal figures seem suspicious to many of their colleagues, yet they are particularly positioned not only to be conduits to engaged learning for students but also to transform the academy by chipping away at the stereotypes that support the symbolic walls of the Ivory Tower. Because they are growing in number and gaining influence in academia, the scholar-fans of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy) and other texts by creator Joss Whedon are one focus of this dissertation. Though Buffy academics or Whedon scholars are not the only ones of their kind (e.g., academic- fan communities have cropped up around The Simpsons, The Matrix Trilogy, and the Harry Potter franchise), they have produced more literature and are more organized than any other academic-fan community. I approach all of my subjects—fandom, academia, fan-scholars, and scholar-fans—from a multidisciplinary perspective, employing various methodologies, including autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Taking several viewpoints and using mixed methods best allows me to begin identifying and articulating a rhetoric of scholar-fandom. Ultimately, I claim that Whedon academic-fans employ a discourse marked by intimacy, community, reciprocity, and transformation. In other words, the rhetoric of Whedon scholar-fandom promotes an epistemology—a way of knowing—that in Parker J. Palmer’s paradigm is personal, communal, reciprocal, and transformational.

Individuals who consider themselves both scholars and fans represent not only a subculture of fandom but also a subculture of academia. These liminal figures seem suspicious to many of their colleagues, yet they are particularly positioned not only to be conduits to engaged learning for students but also to transform the academy by chipping away at the stereotypes that support the symbolic walls of the Ivory Tower. Because they are growing in number and gaining influence in academia, the scholar-fans of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy) and other texts by creator Joss Whedon are one focus of this dissertation. Though Buffy academics or Whedon scholars are not the only ones of their kind (e.g., academic- fan communities have cropped up around The Simpsons, The Matrix Trilogy, and the Harry Potter franchise), they have produced more literature and are more organized than any other academic-fan community. I approach all of my subjects—fandom, academia, fan-scholars, and scholar-fans—from a multidisciplinary perspective, employing various methodologies, including autoethnography and narrative inquiry. Taking several viewpoints and using mixed methods best allows me to begin identifying and articulating a rhetoric of scholar-fandom. Ultimately, I claim that Whedon academic-fans employ a discourse marked by intimacy, community, reciprocity, and transformation. In other words, the rhetoric of Whedon scholar-fandom promotes an epistemology—a way of knowing—that in Parker J. Palmer’s paradigm is personal, communal, reciprocal, and transformational.