Verflochtene Vergangenheiten: Geschichtscomics in Europa, Asien und Amerika

Providing the introduction to this special issue, the article explores, in three steps, history comic books as a field of research that has so far been neglected by transnational history. First, it highlights the significance of cross-border impacts on comics and enquires into transnational exchange and demarcation processes. Thus, the usual, often unconsciously nationalised focus on the three main, i.e. US, Japanese and French-Belgian, comic cultures is challenged and it is asked for a closer look at so far disregarded areas. Second, history comic books are characterised by entanglements between facts and fiction, the overlap of different time layers and transnational crossings. It is argued that Germany during the second half of the 20th century constitutes a particularly suitable object for studying these issues, since it can be characterised as “a site for intercultural exchange” with regard to picture books representing the past. The third part eventually points out prospects for future research in history comic books as entangled pasts.

This contribution deals with the problems of classification of a certain type of the graphic narrative (comics, manga and graphic novel) as a genre of historical storytelling. Starting with the idea that the single fact of treating historic details, characters and objects as such cannot be seen as a prove of a historical tale, it is necessary to leave aside all comics narrations that only present a few historic fragments. With the focus on those stories that show a continuous historic plot there has to be made a difference between factual narrations with a strong attitude of authenticity and often a didactic purpose on one side and fictional narrations which are trying to find an adequate balance between historical facts and literary invention on the other side. Among these, apart from gag strips with a historical content and examples of humorous historical storytelling as a persiflage, like Astérix and others, there are two types of historical comics narrations: with reference to Umbero Ecos categories that he presented in the “Postscript to ‘The name of the rose’”, the historical narration in comics, manga and graphic novels can be described as appearing either in the form of the historic novel or the historical adventure story. However, from these true variations of the genre the form of the comics romance with more or less superficial historical applications in often fantastic combinations – like Fosters “Prince Valiant” and others – has to be distinguished as it tends to create fantasy stories more than such of historical quality.

The comic „Hannes Hegen’s Mosaik“ was an anomaly in the East German press scene. The officials of the state party SED were afraid of the political influence comics from the West could exert on young people. Therefore, a “socialist picture story” made in the GDR was to replace the comic books from the USA and Western Europe. The “Mosaik”, however, did not comply with the SED ideology. This essay describes how “Mosaik” was able to survive and prosper in a comichostile environment.

“Only if you understand war, will you find the murderer“, said Kris, the author of Notre Mère la Guerre. The comic tells the story of a serial killer who brutally murders four young women in the winter of 1915 in the French Champagne region. The comic is at first appearance a crime story. However, the authors Kris and Maël offer the reader a well-researched, manifold and terrifying panorama of World War I. During extensive research in archives and museums, the authors have studied the main historical works about World War I, as well as research works about the brutalization of politics between the wars. “We wanted to make war comprehensible to the readers; we wanted the readers to immerse themselves slowly and deeply into the question of what war really is. For us, the question is not only who is the murderer, but, most essentially, why does he kill?” (Übersetzung Anja Fulle)

The article analyses entanglements of political and generational experience in the German Democratic Republic of the 90s. Furthermore, the potential of images, especially comic book panels, for conceptualizing historical terminology is discussed with regard to “dissidence”.

This article is concerned with processes of retroactive memory-construction in graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi, Parsua Bashi and Zeina Abirached. These ,autofictional’ works of female migrant graphic novel-authors, currently living in exile, expand a one-dimensional image of emigration by actively involving the reader into the process of producing meaning. Dimensions of temorality such as past, present and future are intermingled within a vast Stream of Comicness, shuttleing between words and images. What historical science literally as well as figuratively can gain by an analysis of these pictorial modes of representation, is a deep understanding of highly individualized acts of remembrance of a vicarious past, disfractured by the loss of time and space and constantly shifting between image and imagination.

Josef Pomiankowski’s book “The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire“ („Der Zusammenbruch des Ottomanischen Reiches“) is one of the most valuable sources for the late history of the Ottoman Empire. However little is known about the author. Yet Josef Pomiankowski is an archetypal example of a member of the Austro-Hungarian military elite who had to adapt to the new realities of post-war Europe. First of all the paper examines the making of a high ranking Austro-Hungarian officer of Polish decent. Moreover it attempts to show how this transnational identity was forced to yield during the formation of the Polish Republic, when Pomiankowski once more served as a high ranking officer. Pomiankowski’s example demonstrates that the nationalization of the continent was by no means seen as an act of liberation by all members of the elites in the new national states, but that there was also much sorrow for the destruction of the multinational Austro-Hungarian Monarchy among these elites.