Ti Jean L’Horizon in the age of manga. Interview with Roland Monpierre

Abstract

Roland Monpierre is a Guadeloupean artist who wears many hats: he is a comic book author, illustrator and scriptwriter. On the occasion of the forthcoming publication of his comic book adaptation of Ti Jean L'Horizon, Simone Schwarz-Bart's second novel, he spoke with Kathleen Gyssels and Odile Hamot about the circumstances, conditions and challenges of his artistic approach. That Schwarz-Bart's novels lend themselves to adaptation is undeniable: La Mulâtresse Solitude has already been the subject of a comic book version, produced by Unesco in 2015 in a series devoted to the great figures of Africa; Le Dernier des Justes was almost reissued in a lighter version, illustrated with drawings by Marc Chagall, and it is only fair that Ti Jean should find in the person of Roland Monpierre an artist likely to magnify, in another genre and with other means, the eminently visual character of Simone's writing.
After several albums by the best West Indian authors, including Joseph Zobel, or highlighting forgotten figures from Guadeloupe's cultural heritage, such as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, or focusing on the great names of Caribbean culture, such as Bob Marley, Roland Monpierre has happily devoted himself to this magnificent odyssey based on the West Indian tale and the folkloric figure of Ti Jean. The comic strip thus gives a second wind to the 1979 novel and reaches a different audience, which is probably much more familiar with manga than with novels, and is perhaps even unfamiliar with the great works of Caribbean literature.