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Visualising Small Traumas

Q: Who wrote "Visualising Small Traumas"?

"Visualising Small Traumas" was written by Pedro Moura. Pedro Moura is an independent scholar, teacher, and comics scriptwriter from Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a PhD from the University of Lisbon and KU Leuven.

Contemporary Portuguese Comics at the Intersection of Everyday Trauma

Pedro Moura (Author),

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Series: Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels 9

Category: Literature

Language: English

ISBN: 9789462703032

Publication date: March 10, 2022

€59.50 (including 6% VAT)

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Number of pages: 240

Size: 230 x 170 x mm

Number of illustrations: 43

Funded by: Open Book Collective

Stock item: 147231

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 9

Category: Literature

Language: English

DOI: 10.11116/9789461667366

ISBN: 9789461667366

Publication date: September 30, 2025

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Number of pages: 240

Number of illustrations: 43

Funded by: Open Book Collective

Summary
Contents
About the Author
FAQs

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).

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Going small to widen the scope

1. The semi-peripheral role of the Portuguese comics scene

2. A short history of trauma

3. Marco Mendes and the ever-temporary rebuilding of the self

4. Miguel Rocha and working through the acting out of history

5. Minor comics and atomised responses to small traumas

Conclusion

References

Pedro Moura

Pedro Moura is an independent scholar, teacher, and comics scriptwriter from Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a PhD from the University of Lisbon and KU Leuven.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is "Visualising Small Traumas" about?

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.

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

Who wrote "Visualising Small Traumas"?

"Visualising Small Traumas" was written by Pedro Moura.

Pedro Moura is an independent scholar, teacher, and comics scriptwriter from Lisbon, Portugal. He holds a PhD from the University of Lisbon and KU Leuven.

Is "Visualising Small Traumas" part of a series?

Yes, "Visualising Small Traumas" is part of the "Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels" series. It's book 9 in the series.

Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels presents state-of-the-art contributions on comics and graphic novels. The series publishes research on European comics and graphic novels and aims at stimulating scholarship on European BDs. It includes titles from scholars working in different disciplines, such as history, literary criticism, literary theory, art history, and visual studies. Typical themes to be addressed will comprise European graphic novels and comics in historical context; gender and other social identity analysis; theorizations; and detailed case studies or wider surveys. The series publishes monographs and collections for university-level researchers and ambitions to advance knowledge of this still relatively under-discussed subject.

GPRC

All volumes will be published in English, but the comics and graphic novels under investigation will be of any European language and from any European culture. Like graphic novels and comics, Europe itself is hard to define, and the approach for the series will be open and not overly prescriptive.

Series editors

Jan Baetens, KU Leuven
Hugo Frey, University of Chichester
Maaheen Ahmed, Ghent University

Editorial Board

The editorial board is composed of leading scholars from literature, visual arts, and historical studies:
Bart Beaty (University of Calgary)
Christopher Pizzino (University of Georgia)
Ann Miller (University of Leicester).

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editors.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Proposal Submission Form

Open Access & Funding Options

Is "Visualising Small Traumas" available Open Access?

Yes, "Visualising Small Traumas" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

Who funded the publication of "Visualising Small Traumas"?

Publication of "Visualising Small Traumas" was funded by Open Book Collective
.

What is the Table of Contents for "Visualising Small Traumas"?

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Going small to widen the scope

1. The semi-peripheral role of the Portuguese comics scene

2. A short history of trauma

3. Marco Mendes and the ever-temporary rebuilding of the self

4. Miguel Rocha and working through the acting out of history

5. Minor comics and atomised responses to small traumas

Conclusion

References

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