Visualising Small Traumas

Cultural history of contemporary Portuguese comics and
their creative responses to trauma
Portugal's vibrant
comics scene originated as early as the 19th century, bringing forth brilliant
individual artists, but has remained mostly unknown beyond Portugal's borders
to this day. Now a new generation employs this medium to put into question
hegemonic views on the economy, politics, and society. Following the experience
of the financial crisis of the past decades and its impact on social policies,
access to and rules of public discourse, and civil strife, comics have
questioned what constitutes a traumatogenic situation and what can act as a
creative response.

By looking at
established graphic novels by Marco Mendes and Miguel
Rocha, fanzine-level, and even experimental productions, Visualising Small Traumas is
the first English-language book that addresses Portuguese contemporary comics
and investigates how trauma studies can both shed a light on comics making and be
informed by that very same practice.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

"By
exploring a number of books that bring to the fore painful memories of the
dictatorial regime in Portugal, or explore the price of the austerity policies
in response to the economic crisis of 2008, or the ongoing capitalist assault
on cultural diversity, workers' rights, and personal expression, I hope to
question many issues that will hopefully contribute to a stronger diversity in
Comics Studies."

Read
a Q&A with Pedro Moura