Da(ny) goes (auto)graphic

Production de l’espace et intermédialité dans les « romans dessinés et écrits à la main » de Dany Laferrière

Abstract

In my contribution, I propose to study the question of Laferrière’s adoption of new media forms, leading him to resort to the hybrid genre of the graphic novel, situated halfway between literature and visual art. Using the example of Vers d’autres rives (2019), my analysis will focus on the function of this reversal for Laferrière’s project and on the resulting shifts in the relationship between autofictional production and its positioning in relation to different spaces and cities. How does the discourse of the graphic novels evolve with respect to the artist's space and cultural belonging? To answer such questions, I will first present Laferrière's autofictional work, then situate his “graphic novels” in the Quebec and Haitian contexts, and finally share some reflections on the “autographic” narrative (Whitlock 2006) and how it constructs, through writing and images, the social and medial space of narrative. The last part will focus on the analysis of Vers d’autres rives from the point of view of self-representation, sociocultural spaces, and the contribution of the intermedial to Laferrière's autofictional, spatial and poetological reflections.