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Welcome to Thara Charland, CIRM's new member!

Thara is a postdoctoral researcher in the D茅partement d'茅tudes litt茅raires at Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al. She recently won a prestigious , which will let her work on the emergence of documentary comics in Qu茅bec since 2000. To mark her arrival at CIRM, we asked her a few questions.

Your research interests include Qu茅bec comics in relation to Montr茅al. What are the main trends in representations of Montr茅al in Qu茅bec comics?

It is hard to pinpoint any major trends in representations of Montr茅al in contemporary Qu茅bec comics, since the corpus is so diverse, both in terms of the themes explored and the historical periods represented. Among the works published since 2000, some draw on the city's historical and architectural past (La femme aux cartes postales by Claude Paiement and Jean-Paul Eid), while others project the city into a disturbing dystopian future (Thierry Labrosse's Ab Irato series). For my research, I have been more interested in certain comics that focus on a specific neighborhood in order to offer a portrait of it, to capture its 鈥渟oul鈥�. In this type of work (Michel Hellman's Mile End, Richard Suicide's Chroniques du Centre-Sud, Skip Jensen's Lachine Beach, etc.), the relationship to the metropolis is subjective, sensitive and memorialized.

Is Montr茅al represented differently in comics than other cities? Put another way, what distinguishes the way Montr茅al is represented in comics?

During my research, I looked at works that feature places other than Montr茅al, in order to offer a counterpoint to my main analysis and to see how representations of the city of Montr茅al differ from or overlap with those of other places. In the course of my readings, however, it became clear that Montr茅al acts as a magnet, and that a large proportion of Qu茅bec comics published since 2000 feature the city. Among the works that propose visions outside the center, we note that certain commonplaces associated with the region are recuperated: the vastness of the Qu茅bec territory, the well-being linked to a return to the land, the healing power of nature, etc. In addition, a survey of works set in the suburbs and countryside, but almost invariably focusing on the metropolis, reveals a negative image of Montr茅al: suffocating city life, lack of green spaces, health problems, etc.

As a literature scholar, what particularly fascinates you about representations of the city?

I grew up in the suburbs, very close to Montr茅al. And yet, all my youth, the metropolis seemed inaccessible, too vast, a little threatening. I have been living here for 15 years now, and the metropolis still holds the greatest fascination for me. I feel as if I will never get around to it, that I will never be able to exhaust it. Literature and comics give me the opportunity to continue my exploration of the city. Each work in my body of work offers me an additional facet of Montr茅al, revealing a part of it that I hadn't yet explored. I wandered through the downtown area at the turn of the 20th century in Arthur Leclair: projectionniste ambulant, relived the 2012 student strike in Sophie Yanow's La guerre des rues et des maisons, and Michel Rabagliati took me on a stroll through Expo 67 with Paul.

Your postdoctoral project focuses on documentary comics in Qu茅bec since 2000. Why documentary comics? And how can the analysis of representations of the city contribute to the analysis of documentary comics?

As a scholar interested in contemporary comics, my job is to pay close attention to the major trends driving the comics field. One of these trends is the unprecedented rise of non-fiction. Comics have increasingly entered the realm of reality, and as a result, the use of documentary practices has intensified. In certain works in the corpus, the analysis of representations of the city will show how the documents on which the research is based (photos, archives, newspaper articles, etc.) are used, but above all recycled and reinterpreted.

You're also an . How does your research into Qu茅bec comics and Montr茅al influence your creative work?

I see my approach to creative writing and my research as one and the same. For me, it's the question of places and the relationship we all have with them that interests me. How does the place where we live settle within us? In my novel, I decided to write about a neighborhood I know only from the stories I've heard: Cartierville. It's the neighborhood where the Charland family home was located, and it was also a stone's throw from Belmont Park. The question that guided my writing was: what is the experience of living near an amusement park when our family life is particularly tragic?

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A perfect day in Montr茅al?

A morning stroll through Summit Woods to get some fresh air. Then a bike ride along the bike path that runs alongside the river, stopping to watch the surfers at Vague 脿 Guy, then ending up at Canal Lachine Canal Park. Read a little by the water in the afternoon. Join friends for an aperitif at Verdun Beach.

3 must-see symbols?

The Mount Royal Cross

The Orange Julep

The exterior wrought-iron staircase

Favorite neighborhood?

C么te-des-Neiges (my neighborhood for 15 years)

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Reference works on Qu茅bec comics and representations of the city:

• Anna Giaufret (2021), , Presses de l'Universit茅 Laval, 288 p.
• Michel Viau (2021), , Station T, 400 p.
• Michel Viau (2022), , Station T, 464 p.
• Philippe Rioux (2022),听, Presses de l'Universit茅 de Montr茅al, 368 p.
• Carm茅lie Jacob et Catherine Saouter (dir.) (2018), , dossier de la revue Voix et Images, vol. 43, no 2.