The Return of Joan of Arc: The Maiden’s Adventures in French Comics / Le Retour de Jeanne d’Arc: Les Aventures de la Pucelle dans les BDs

Despite her status as arguably the most represented historical French female figure in French bandes dessinées, Joan of Arc and her depiction in 9th-art works has never been the subject of a full-length analysis. My work on Joan of Arc’s representation in French bandes dessinées explores the unique function France’s most celebrated medieval heroine plays in the country's popular cultures. In addition to a complete survey of the BD corpus and the conventions typically used to depict Joan, I give special attention to cases where she functions as an iconoclastic figure who challenges the enduring culturally gendered limitations placed on women and nationalist mythology as well as the restrictive conventions of 9th-art artistic forms related to gender, history, and storytelling.