The Agency of the Periphery

Abstract

This study investigates how translation flows of Francophone comic art into the Swedish cultural space contributed to the development of local comics between 1950 and 2020. The data collection and analytical approach is inspired by ‘distant reading’ methods (Moretti 2013), focusing on general features, including author, genre, and mediation practices. The main results show that the importation of internationally established works, such as Tintin, legitimised comics as an aesthetic expression. A sharp divide between children's comics and adult comics is identified in the dataset covering the 1980s, whilst the first decades of the twenty-first century reveal an increase of female author/illustrators corresponding to local creative dynamics and exportation trends. The discussion highlights both Sweden's peripheral position and its achievement of agency in the circulation of comics.