Marguerite Abouet was born in 1971 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Western Africa. Even though she stated her works specifically on Aya wasn’t autobiographical, the story was based on her upbringing in Western Africa. It chronicled her life from birth to age twelve. For Abouet the depiction of her home in writing/media betrayed her childhood memory. To her, Abidjan was a beautiful land full of culture and stories passed down, generationally. In Aya, Abouet recreated memories and the characters were her friends. The adventures throughout the story were based on her own experiences and stories she heard. The accounts depicted African culture through the light of her childhood experiences. One reason why Abouet created comics was in response to the pushback she received from the publishing world when she attempted to write novels. Abouet witnessed the rise of African comics during the early 2000s as they started to cover “current affairs or fragments of everyday experience, or took the form of dramatic and fantastic creations.” (African Wave) She believed comics would be the perfect medium for retelling childhood memories. The Ivory Coast, in the 1970’s, was on an economic uptick with a record rise in GDP and no coups (unlike the rest of the surrounding nations). (Ivory Coast – History) The town of Abidjan in particular during the 1970s built several educational centers such as the Abidjan Institute of Criminology and International Community School of Abidjan. With the area’s economic rise, the Abidjan Stock Exchange was founded which created business appeal for the city. Further, the Ivory Coast just attained its independence from France and was enjoying “a new middle-class society.” (Abouet, Marguerite 1971 – Encyclopedia.com) While in France Abouet teamed up with her husband Clément Oubrerie to illustrate her memories and bring them to life. The comic won the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2006 for its noteworthy art forms along with dialogue and story arc. – Zach Lisner
Clément Oubrerie, the illustrator of Aya and husband of Marguerite Abouet, was born in Paris in 1966. He was also responsible for creating a number of children’s books after living in the United States for two years. He found much more work when he moved back to France, as he became a digital illustrator for more than 40 children’s books, a graphic talent behind a number of animated TV shows, and the co-founder of La Station animation studio and Autochenille Productions. Clément and Marguerite came together to make Aya and published the first volume in 2005 to financial and critical success. A lot of what inspired Aya came from Marguerite’s own life as well being exposed to the large comic influx that Africa had seen since the 1960, “between 1960 and 1990, comics traditions, from strips to cartoons and more literary productions, came together to provide a graphic mirror of the political reality of nation-building” (Repetti). Massimo Repetti also clarifies that these early comics in African history began as interpretations of American funnies, reinterpretations of word-of-mouth stories, and stories paralleling the struggles of living in a post-colonial Africa. It wasn’t until the 1990s, however, when multiparty governments were introduced, did there become a mass increase in newspaper productions, allowing more comic artists to start creating comics. Comics were being recognized as a legitimate art form and were also becoming more political, thanks to the democratic governments, “[Comic artists] exercise moral and political resistance against manipulated and denied human rights, against the word that is sacrificed in disinformation, propaganda, and invention and turned into rhetorical dust by autocrats who brook no dissent” (Repetti). However, as a result of comic artists becoming more political, censorships began being placed on comic books, leading to a lot of comic artists either fleeing the country or imposing self-censors to continue their work (Repetti). Comic artists were still able to get around this, however, thanks to social media allowing for artists to, as Massimo Repetti puts it, “manage their intellectual property rights directly on an international scale…with its strategic national dimension and low horizontal integration…has been shattered, and artists gather the fruits of their own activity when they are published for the first time by European publishing houses.” – Tomas Torres
Formal Properties Analysis
The use of formal properties in Aya is informed by its status as a bande dessinée (BD), or a comic published in French for European readers. These comics, similarly to their American counterparts, are often characterized by simple, recognizable characters whose designs do not change throughout the comic. In Aya, however, Oubrerie uses a more detailed style that gives his characters visual distinctness at the expense of allowing readers a universal recognizability with them. Another aspect of BD that influences Aya’s formal properties is the ligne claire style, which is characterized by its use of clear, graphic lines of the same weight. In Aya, ligne claire is used to give characters visual distinctness from backgrounds (Carrington). This emphasis on individuality in character designs lends itself to the comic’s recurring feminist themes, where female characters are depicted with different aspirations and viewpoints. Aya takes advantage of the formal properties of comics to craft its slice-of-life, character-driven narrative in other ways than art style. For example, Oubrerie uses simple square-shaped panels in a grid pattern, with occasional full-page and horizontal panels to give readers a sense of setting. The images within the panels are contained by thin, hand-drawn lines with uniform gutters surrounding them. Characters and speech bubbles never break the borders. This decision makes each panel feel as if it depicts a single moment in time, and the uniform panel sizing makes each moment feel like it takes up the same amount of time. In this way, Aya mimics the rhythm of everyday life that it is trying to show in Yop City. Panel transitions become an important aspect of the comic’s formal qualities as the narrative weaves the points of view of Aya, Bintou, and Adjoua together. The use of color is important in communicating these scene-to-scene panel transitions. For example, on pages 40-57, Oubrerie weaves scenes that take place at the Thousand Star Hotel together with scenes that take place elsewhere in Yop City. Scenes in the Thousand Star Hotel are characterized by their heavy use of dark, saturated blues that do not appear elsewhere in the comic, while desaturated yellows, greens, and oranges help distinguish scenes that take place during the day in Yop City. Another area in which paneling becomes important in exploring the comic’s theme of feminism in daily Ivorian Coast life can be found in the audience point of view that they show. – Julie Bauer
The use of the point of view for the audience in Aya not only adds a level of personal connection with the characters, but also plays into the important themes of feminism in order to add a comedic tone, as well as to reflect on the prominent privilege that men are given in society. This is most accurately represented in the very ending panels of the graphic novel, on page 108, when it closes with a quick shift in the point of view, as argued by Sally McWilliams in Sex in Yop City. Five total women look wide eyed as a text bubble signifies that another character has entered the room, that character being Mamadou, who is initially depicted as self-confident and carefree when he enters, but quickly becomes unnerved by all of the eyes on him. The quick transition of these panels is meant to reverse the normal standing of power when it comes to gender roles, putting him in a position where he is the one without a higher playing field. It is their gaze and the quick change of the point of view that reflects on the “norms” of Ivorian women being constantly watched by their male counterparts. Another scene where the point of view shows these themes is used is on pages 90-91 where two characters are on an awkward date. The view of these pages, constantly gazing from a distance on them both and their table in one single position, makes the reader feel that they are in a similar scenario to the female character. The feeling becomes as though both her and the viewer are trapped in a situation for an extended period of time, potentially meant to make someone uncomfortable. Both reflect on the themes of feminism using comedic strategies as well as involving the audience with the use of smartly organized panels to invoke an emotional reaction. The panels are even meant to depict the emotions of the characters themselves, whether it be shock, boredom, or unease. They are prime examples of just how smartly constructed Aya is beyond the story itself. – Griffin Erdely
Critical Connections
From of the beginning of the comic, feminist humor is used to set the tone of the story and introduce the reader into the established world. The comic opens with a comical beer commercial produced by men that states that the world runs off the product. Aya introduces her country as beautiful while observing this, knowing her country is run by men. Feminist humor generally has four attributes, these being: “directly attacking or critiquing gender roles, exposing the realities of gender inequality and discrimination under patriarchal ideology, expressing elements of experience that are shared by women generally, and expressing hope toward a vision of change” (McWilliams 47). Aya’s story blatantly includes all four of these attributes with her wishes to become a doctor, her interaction with men and her relationship with her friends. Utilizing feminist humor is also a way to create awareness in a positive way instead of an arrogant stance that can come from brutish male humor. There is a different power found in black feminist humor. McWilliams suggests that it, “shows the serious side of laughter as being a survival strategy, a mode of reaching out for and creating happiness” (47). This idea transitions well into the heavy use of stock characters Oubrerie employs.
Oubrerie invokes and complicates the stereotypes of the good-time girl and the good girl within the comic. With the characters of Aya’s two best friends, Bintou and Adjoua—Abouet challenges the idea of judging women because of their sex-life or class. By implementing the good-time girl stereotype Abouet unearths, “the struggles in young women’s lives…as they confront sexism, neocolonial class privilege, and masculinized nationalism” (McWilliams 50). By giving the two girls power over their own bodies as they dance the night away—without a care about male eyes—Abouet shows how these two women refuse to be viewed as objects. When confronted by the good-girl stereotype of Aya they explain that with their lifestyle they can gain a different kind of power through using men to build the futures they want. Instead of Aya’s good-girl stereotype being used against her working-class friends, it is instead used to juxtapose their position to imagine a productive and successful life for those who aren’t rising into the middle-class like Aya. – Bailey LaPlante
In western culture, African peoples and their nations are not always represented in the most accurate of lights. There tends to be clichés put upon African peoples that have extended throughout time. This kind of ideology can be referred to as, “the culture of invisibility” — an invisibility understood to mean a lack of representations showing Africa and Africans to be more than victims of colonialism, tribally motivated aggressors against one another, or the displaced black-skinned pawns in global conflicts over natural resources, land and power” (46). Aya is an incredible comic because it challenges that ideology in comic book form. It uses the style of comic to juxtapose sitcoms to the lives of the people in Yop City to show that these people are valid in their struggle. Aya uses cartoons as a way to take back the power of art and use it to tell a new tale. In history, people have not been kind to African people when drawing them, and this created many issues and divides between cultures. Aya uses those old stereotypes to break those ideas down. Aya uses, “stock characters, illustrative colors, exaggerated proportions, multiple points of view, and braiding of panel sequences,” in order to create a feminist narrative that challenges both the way gender and sexual politics really occur in Yop City, but also challenges how other countries like the US imagine it to play out. (46) This text allows for the character of Yop City play a major role as well, making the characters and the cartoonist drawings tell an important tale. It works in a kind of sitcom manner to help show more western audiences that the African peoples have their own problems but also work to sort them out. – Christina Beiter
Concluding Analysis
Aya is an important read for any American comic reader looking to broaden their horizons. As American comics and cartoons have an unfortunate long history of caricaturing African peoples as racist depictions, it is beautiful to see work from African comic creators that so effectively dismantles this.
As the conversation in the American comics sphere becomes more blunt surrounding issues of proper representation, we are thankfully seeing US comic artists creating work that centers on the topics of intersectional feminism, class struggles, and race—much in the same way Aya does. Despite covering foreign topics, for the American comics reader, Aya feels familiar.
Aya is part of a great and ongoing tradition in feminist comics that can be seen happening from Africa to North America. During the time of Aya’s publication, American comics were also seeing a rise in feminist comics. This rise started a decade or so before Aya’s time, most notably marked by the serial publication of Dykes to Watch Out For, which ran from 1983-2008. Other notable works include Fun Home, Death: The High Cost of Living & Death, and Lumberjanes. These comics, like Aya, look at the world through a female lens. They feature female main characters, and in their own ways offer feminist critiques on society. Feminist comics have become common place in American culture, with major publishers like Marvel and DC creating new work that features prominent feminist themes. – Juliana Shuman
Aya often subverts the male gaze throughout the series and through the use of humor emphasizes feminist ideals. This refreshes Aya’s narrative as it is set in the patriarchal world of the Ivory Coast. Aya’s refusal of romantic entanglements throughout the series is Abouet’s way of refusing to fall into the stereotypical damsel in distress narrative. Marguerite Abouet’s and Clement Oubrerie’s Aya: Life in Yop City has had a revolutionary impact on the comic book form and industry. Various storytelling customs influenced the development of Aya’s style; satellite TV (especially soap operas), African oral tradition handed down through generations, media reporting (especially newspaper articles), representation of politics, and Abouet’s own unique blend of intricate storytelling frameworks. While Aya is not autobiographical, it is still admittedly influenced by Abouet’s own life experiences. Aya is in essence an African comic inspired by Abouet’s upbringing and a response to Abouet’s consumption of the politically charged African comics of the 1960’s. Bande dessinée form further informed the development of Aya. It is also important to note that the language presented in Aya also throws out colloquial terms and casual usage of Abidjan African slang, le nouchi, that serves to infuse the comic with Ivorian culture. In regards to the formal properties of Aya, the vibrancy of the diverse language is complemented by the colorized comics. The uniform panels in Aya have an almost music beat quality as the three main characters go through the motions of their daily life in Yop City. Sometimes the tempo picks up and there are episodic cliffhanger endings that demonstrate Aya’s soap opera influence. Intimate family and community relationship portraits are depicted throughout the narrative. Aya helps to inform Western populations about African culture while it also topples outdated tropes of male dominance, replacing them with feminist principles. Aya’s universally versatile appeal is one of the most remarkable aspects of the work. – Gabriella E. Escobar
Works Cited
“Abouet, Marguerite 1971– | Encyclopedia.Com”. Encyclopedia.Com, 2018, https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/abouet-marguerite-1971.
carrington, andrè m. “Minor Miracles: Toward a Theory of Novelty in Aya of Yopougon.” Lateral, vol. 6, no. 1, 2017, https://doi.org/10.25158/L6.1.2.
“Ivory Coast – History”. Countrystudies.Us, 2021, http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/3.htm.
“MARGUERITE ABOUET & CLÉMENT OUBRERIE.” Drawn and Quarterly, drawnandquarterly.com/author/marguerite-abouet-cl%C3%A9ment-oubrerie.
Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola. “Marguerite Abouet.” The Brown Bookshelf, 31 June 2010, thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/marguerite-abouet/.
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