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The Belgian Photonovel, 1954-1985

An Introduction

Clarissa Colangelo (Author),

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Epub
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Series: Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels

Category: Literature, Media and Visual Culture

Language: English

ISBN: 9789462703704

Publication date: August 30, 2023

€45.00 (including 6% VAT)

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Number of pages: 250

Size: 230 x 170 x 15 mm

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, with colour section

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access

Stock item: 155810

Standard delivery time for print books:

For Belgium: 5 to 8 working days

For EU: 2 to 3 weeks

For other countries: 4 to 5 weeks

Series: Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels

Category: Literature, Media and Visual Culture

Language: English

ISBN: 9789461665126

Publication date: September 1, 2023

Download Free Epub

Number of pages: 250

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, with colour section

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access

Series: Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels

Category: Literature, Media and Visual Culture

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461665119

ISBN: 9789461665119

Publication date: August 16, 2023

Download Free PDF

Number of pages: 250

Illustrations and other content description:
Illustrated, with colour section

Funded by: KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access

Summary
Contents
About the Author
Reviews

The importance of the Belgian contribution to the history of the photonovel.
The Belgian photonovel is the missing link in the amazing history of the photonovel, a comics-inspired form of visual narrative that combines elements from very different genres and media, ranging from literary melodrama, cinema, and of course comics. This monograph discloses the specific Belgian contribution to the genre, in close connection with the singularities of the Belgian women’s and general magazines where these photonovels appeared. If the photonovel is generally considered a typically French or Italian genre, this study demonstrates the importance of a different tradition, which appropriated the foreign models in a very original way. Belgian photonovels are distinct, not only because they tell other kinds of stories, but also because they interact with other types of magazines in ways that are very different from the mainstream forms of the genre in Italy and France. Finally, this lavishly illustrated study is also the first in scrutinizing the technical aspects of magazine printing techniques in the development of the photonovel.

Ebook available in Open Access. This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Foreword: Time-traveling in a lost world
Introduction

Chapter 1. A brief history of the photonovel
1.1 A working definition
1.2 Origins, evolution and decline
1.3 Fame versus shame
1.4 Photonovels: between tradition and emancipation

Chapter 2. Belgian editorial context: a language divide

Chapter 3. Popular Belgian women’s magazines with photonovels
3.1 Lectures d’Aujourd’hui / Lectuur voor Allen
3.2 Mon Copain
3.3 Chez Nous / Ons Volk
3.4 Femmes d’Aujourd’hui / Het Rijk der Vrouw
3.5 Bonnes Soirées / Mimosa
3.6 Piccolo and Tiptop
3.7 Vrouw en Huis
3.8 Panorama
3.9 Rosita
3.10 Ons Land met Iris
3.11 Madame
3.12 Joepie
3.13 Other magazines
3.13.1 Roman Film complet, Sandra / Katia and Sérenade
3.13.2 HUMO and Sportif ’68 / Sport ’68

Chapter 4. Making photonovels
4.1 Creating a photonovel
4.1.1 Subject
4.1.2 Script and plot
4.1.3 Director
4.1.4 Photographer
4.1.5 Actors
4.1.6 Layout
4.1.7 Translations
4.2 Print process
4.2.1 Photomechanical processes
4.2.2 The evolution of rotogravure
4.2.3 Color printing
4.2.4 Press printed photographs

Chapter 5. Photonovels inside the magazines
5.1 Photonovels and advertisement

Conclusion

Appendix: Complete list of all the photonovels published in Belgian magazines
Bibliography
Acknowledgments

Clarissa Colangelo

Clarissa Colangelo holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and is affiliated with KU Leuven, where she is conducting research on the visual aspects of magazine culture in collaboration with the Belgian National Library (KBR).

With 'The Belgian Photonovel, 1954-1985 An Introduction', Clarissa Colangelo has given us a fine, thorough, yet readable chronicle of this area of publishing history. - Mike Mosher, Leonardo, June 2024, https://leonardo.info/review/2024/06/the-belgian-photonovel-1954-1985

"One of the great lessons of contemporary Cultural Studies is that some of the most important ideological and political work in society is done by overlooked, undervalued or otherwise marginalised cultural forms. It's the old(ish) argument that 'Paris Match' or 'Hello!' are as culturally significant in their way as 'A la recherche du temps perdu'. Photonovels fall squarely into that category, as Clarissa Colangelo demonstrates in her absorbing study of the genre.", Edward Welch, Source Photographic Review, Issue 115 — Summer 2024

Richement et intelligemment illustrée, cette étude devrait aider à rouvrir le dossier du roman-photo comme médium de presse et interroger l’importance du contexte éditorial, et plus largement commercial, de la photographie populaire. - Jan Baetens, Focales, 9 | 2025, DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/141fs

Au-delà d’une analyse historique et sociétale des romans-photo belges, Clarissa Colangelo les décortique à tous les niveaux : des techniques d’impression et de photographie jusqu’à leur édition. Elle propose également un inventaire détaillé de tous les romans-photo belges digitalisés dans le cadre du projet Photo-Lit, que ce livre accompagne en donnant toutes les clefs de lecture. En cela, cet ouvrage constitue un point d’entrée idéal, autant pour de futures recherches que pour un public plus large, comme un agréable voyage dans le temps, l’ouverture d’une capsule temporelle. - Owen Le Gonidec, Critique d’art, 01 juin 2025, DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/11qog

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