Benoît Peeters (; born 1956) is a French

comics writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...

, novelist, and

comics studies Comics studies (also comic art studies, sequential art studies or graphic narrative studies) is an academic field that focuses on comics and sequential art. Although comics and graphic novels have been generally dismissed as less relevant pop cul ...

scholar.

Biography

After a degree in Philosophy at Université de Paris I, Peeters prepared his Master's at the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate '' grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. Th ...

(EHESS‚ Paris) under the direction of

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western pop ...

. He holds a '' habilitation à diriger les recherches'' (HDR), i.e. a supplementary PhD enabling him to supervise the work of PhD candidates (Université de Paris I, 2007). He published his first novel, ''Omnibus'', by

Les Éditions de Minuit Les Éditions de Minuit (, ''Midnight Press'') is a French publishing house. It was founded in 1941, during the French Resistance of World War II, and is still publishing books today. History Les Éditions de Minuit was founded by writer an ...

in 1976, followed by his second, ''La Bibliothèque de Villers'', Robert Laffont, 1980. Since then, he has published over sixty works on a wide variety of subjects. His best-known work is '' Les Cités obscures'', an imaginary world which mingles a Borgesian metaphysical surrealism with the detailed architectural vistas of the series' artist,

François Schuiten François Schuiten (; born 26 April 1956) is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series '' Les Cités Obscures''. Biography François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1956.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "François Sc ...

. The series began with ''Les Murailles de Samaris'' (''The Walls of Samaris'') in 1983 and is still continuing. He has also worked with

Frédéric Boilet Frédéric Boilet (; born 16 January 1960 in Épinal, France) is a French cartoonist and a manga artist. Biography Frédéric Boilet's debut in comic art was in 1983 with ''La Nuit des Archées''. He created ''Le Rayon vert'' in 1987, followed b ...

on a series of comic albums, including ''Love Hotel'' (1993), ''Tokyo est mon jardin'' (1997), and ''Demi-tour'' (1997), and has collaborated on a series of photographic works with Marie-Françoise Plissart. He has written a number of books about the comics medium as well, including '' Le monde d'Hergé'' (1983), published in English as ''

Tintin and the World of Hergé ''Tintin and the World of Hergé: An Illustrated History'' (french: link=no, Le monde d'Hergé) is a book by Benoit Peeters chronicling the illustrated history of Belgian cartoonist Hergé and his creation '' The Adventures of Tintin''. Recepti ...

'' (1988), a biography of Hergé, ''Hergé, Son of Tintin'', a study of comics pioneer

Rodolphe Töpffer Rodolphe Töpffer ( , ; 31 January 1799 – 8 June 1846) was a Swiss teacher, author, painter, cartoonist, and caricaturist. He is best known for his illustrated books (''littérature en estampes'', "graphic literature"), which are possibly ...

, and theoretical works such as ''Lire la bande dessinée'' (1998). His interest in the cinema has increased over the years. He is the author of three short films as well as several documentaries. He directed one feature film‚ ''Le Dernier plan'' (The Last Shot)‚ and long conversations with

Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the '' Nouveau Roman'' (new novel) trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and ...

. He published the first biography of

Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed th ...

. The book was translated into English by Polity Press in 2012. In 2015 Peeters was appointed as the UK's first ever comics professor at the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...

Notes

External links

A short biography

Fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peeters, Benoit 1956 births Living people Writers from Paris Comics critics 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Tintin French male novelists Inkpot Award winners