Re-envisioning Time Across ImageTexts

Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Kai Mikkonen, The University of Helsinki, Finland
 

This conference brings together scholars and practitioners to explore the intersections between imagetexts and dominant/alternative/counter temporalities. 
 

The topic of time in Comics Studies has always received its share of attention. Among its earlier examples, we find Scott McCloud’s exploration of gutter-spaces and sequentiality (1994) and Thierry Groensteen’s advanced theorisation of spatio-topical networks (1999), including more recent analyses of the topic, such as Kai Mikkonen’s exploration of time in The Narratology of Comic Art (2017), Jan Baetens’ multiple contributions to the topic (i.e. ‘Gap or Gag’ (2020)), as well as Groensteen’s latest La Bande dessinée et le temps (2022). As ‘comics exist in time’ (Baetens, 2022), their temporal existence seems to stretch beyond purely spatial relations, including manifold interconnections that constitute the growing body of research on time in comics, often following Bergsonian critique of spatiality (Conard & Lambeen, 2012). What is especially intriguing in this respect is the way in which temporal relations in imagetexts further resonate with our socio-political realities, in which historical metanarratives become naturalized through specific regimes of reading, looking, and more broadly, ‘experiencing’ time, and where story-time and discourse-time are further informed by the time ‘out there’ as our historical time. 
As a continuation of this critical polylogue, this conference seeks to provide a platform for furthering the discussion on time construction and perception in comics, while expanding the object of inquiry to include broader constellations of imagetexts: static printed and digital media where image and text intersect, merge, or collide in creative ways, including illustrated prose, collage, visual poetry, zines, film still assemblages, scrapbooks, and experimental mixed-media works.

Conference program 

The conference takes place in person, with the keynote and roundtable being available in a hybrid form. To receive the link to the online streaming of these two events, please, contact the organizers via email. 
Feel free to get in touch:
Svitlana Stupak (svitlana.stupak@uni-siegen.de) and Silvia Vari (silviaericavari@gmail.com) for any questions.