Recollected: History, Memory and Imagination in Contemporary Greek Comics and Graphic Novels

Approaching Greek graphic novels as a site for both artistic innovation and social critique, ReCOLLECTED sheds light on ways in which comics can inform our views on present-day cultural landscapes and engage with broader social issues pertaining to the role of popular culture and cultural heritage in shaping identity and redrawing the boundaries of national belonging.

The aim of the project is two-fold.

Firstly, it aims to assess what led to the boom of comics in the Greek cultural field over the past decade and identify any shared patterns and characteristics of these comics.

Secondly, the project will then use this data to propose categories and conceptual tools that comics can offer for cultivating alternative visions for tackling contemporary problems.In order to reach these aims, ReCOLLECTED relies on an interdisciplinary methodology, combining tools and insights from comics studies with anthropology, cultural analysis, data visualization.

The project will develop in close collaboration with comics artists themselves in order to integrate their own perspectives into the framework and in hope to spur debate in the field as well as new directions in comics practice as a result of this collaborative effort.

Skills and training gained at UvA in advanced methods for combining ethnographic data and close-reading of cultural texts, conducting interviews and data visualization will ensure that the project contributes to cultural innovation within Greece as well as responds to the latest developments within the transnational field of comics studies.