Rodolphe Töpffer and the word/image problem.

A celebration of the first English-language translation of Töpffer’s
complete picture-story work by David Kunzle and a symposium on the
word/image problem.

Rodolphe Töpffer, (1799-1846) draftsman, writer and educator of Geneva
is recognized as the inventor of the modern comic-strip or
picture-story. Initially, Töpffer feared that the publication of these
picture-stories would damage his reputation as an educator. The mixing
of words and images was seen as a frivolous endeavor -- a violation of
the purity and purpose of each domain of expression. The books were
eventually published, translated, pirated and widely distributed, thus
triggering the European and American culture of the comic-strip. In
1845, a pirated edition of Töpffer's "Histoire de M. Vieux Bois" was the
first comic-strip book published in America. A hundred and sixty years
later, the separation of word and image continues to exist in the
academy. The symposium will examine the traditions of the picture-story,
picture-recitations, concrete vs. mental images, the materiality of
symbols, illustration and non-verbal communication.

Saturday March 8, 3-8 pm:
Speakers include:
- Peter Blegvad
- Anne-Marie Bouché
- Noah Isenberg
- Ben Katchor
- David Kunzle
- Victor H. Mair
- Jim Miller,
- Patricia Mainardi
- Aimée Brown Price

Presented by the Parsons Illustration Department and the Department of
Liberal Studies, The New School for Social Research.

PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL FOR DESIGN
Theresa Lang Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor, New York City
Saturday, March 8, 20008 3 - 8 pm,

Free and open to the public