Description
Book SynopsisThis book adds to the scant academic literature investigating how comics transmit knowledge of the past and how this refraction of the past shapes our understanding of society and politics in sometimes damaging ways. The volume comes at these questions from a specifically archaeological perspective, foregrounding the representation and narrative use of material cultures. It fulfils its objectives through three reception studies in the first part of the volume and three chapters by comic creators in the second part. All six chapters aim to grapple with a set of central questions about the power inherent in drawn images of various kinds.
Trade Review“A central tenet of the volume is that both comics and archaeology are political. … Being the author and illustrator of numerous archaeology comics, John G. Swogger shows with the aid of strip comic format … archaeologists should promote the community’s feedback and hands-on participation. To prevent community history and preservation from being eclipsed by one-sided portrayals, localized communities should be involved in creating content for comics.” (Johannes H. N. Loubser, AMERICAN ANTIQUITY, June 29, 2023)
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Comics and Archaeology?.‘The Aliens from 2,000 B.C.!’: Truth, Fiction and Pseudoarchaeology in American Comic Books.Panels from the South Seas: Pacific Colonialism, Archaeology, and Pseudoscience in Francophone Bande Dessinée.Making Sargon Great Again: Reuse and Reappropriation of Ancient Mesopotamian Imagery in Fan-Art of the Online Right.Creating Comics for Public Engagement in Roman Aeclanum: Illustrating Ancient History.“Mix, Mould, Fire!”: Comic Art and Educational Outreach Inspired by Archaeology.“They Do Things Differently There”: Articulating the Unfamiliar Past in Community Heritage Comics.
