Bécassine

"Bécassine" is a comic strip and the name of its heroine, appearing for the first time in the first issue of "La Semaine de Suzette" on February 2 1905. She is considered the first female protagonist in the history of comics. [http://archquo.nouvelobs.com/cgi/articles?ad=culture/20050202.OBS7721.html&host=http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/ Bécassine a cent ans] in Le Nouvel Observateur, February 2 2005]

The character Bécassine is a young Breton housemaid (usually depicted in traditional uniform and without a mouth). Seen as a stereotype and remnant of the contempt with which the Bretons were long seen, she is the typical provincial girl as seen by the more refined city people of Paris, the target audience of the young girls magazine "La Semaine de Suzette". But over the course of the stories, and coupled with the success she had, she is depicted more and more favourably. Although her costume is more like that of Picardy, she is described as coming from Finistère. Her nickname Bécassine is the French name for a number of birds of the family of the snipe.

History

Initially made as filler for a blank page, the story, written by Jacqueline Rivière and drawn by Joseph Pinchon, was such a success that new pages regularly appeared, still in the guise of page fillers.

Only in 1913 did Bécassine become the heroine of more structured stories. Still drawn by Pinchon, the stories were then written by Caumery (pseudonym of Maurice Languereau), one of the associates of Gautier-Languereau, the publisher of "La Semaine de Suzette". At that time, the character's real name was revealed to be Annaïck Labornez.

Between 1913 and 1950, 27 volumes of the adventures of Bécassine appeared. Pinchon drew 25 of them, and Edouard Zier the other two. All 27 were credited as being written by "Caumery", but after Languereau's death in 1941, the pseudonym was used by others.

After Pinchon's death in 1953, the series continued with other artists, most notably Jean Trubert beginning in 1959.

With a first appearance three years before "Les Pieds Nickelés", "Bécassine" is considered the birth of the modern "bande dessinée", the Franco-Belgian comic. It marks the transition between the illustrated histories and the true bande dessinée. Its style of drawing, with lively, modern, rounded lines, would inspire the ligne claire of which "The Adventures of Tintin" would become 25 years later the foremost result.

After a decline in popularity, "Bécassine" regained prominence due to the hit single "Bécassine, c'est ma cousine" ("Bécassine, she's my cousin") by Chantal Goya, which sold over 3 million copies in 1979. It has been replied to by the Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz with the song "Bécassine, ce n'est pas ma cousine" ("Bécassine, she's not my cousin").

The popular television show Le Bébête show, a kind of Spitting Image, showed far right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen in the guise of the puppet "Pencassine".

In April 2005, the French Post issued a stamp depicting Bécassine for her centenary.

Bibliography

Source: Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (2002): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 2003-2004". Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur. ISBN 2-85917-357-9

If not otherwise mentioned, Pinchon is the artist, Caumery the artist, and Gautier-Languereau the publisher.

Movie versions

"Bécassine" was made into a movie in 1939, directed by Pierre Caron with a story by Jean Nohain and René Pujol, and starring Paulette Dubost as Bécassine.

An animated movie, "Bécassine, le trésor viking" ("Becassine and the Viking Treasure") was made in 2001. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299619/]

Notes

Bibliography

*Anne Martin-Fugier, "La Place des bonnes : la domesticité féminine à Paris en 1900", Grasset, 1979 (reprinted 1985, 1998, 2004).
*Bernard Lehambre, "Bécassine, une légende du siècle", Gautier-Languereau/Hachette Jeunesse, 2005.
*Yves-Marie Labé, « Bécassine débarque », in "Le Monde", August 28, 2005.
*Yann Le Meur, « Bécassine, le racisme ordinaire du bien-pensant », in "Hopla", #21 (November 2005- February 2006).

External links

* [http://www.pinchon-illustrateur.info Site about Joseph Pinchon] , creator of "Bécassine"
* [http://www.andromedanews.com/bd/becassine/becassine.html Bécassine stamp]
* [http://becassine.site.voila.fr/ Bécassine, ma passion - collector's site]