McGill Queen’s University Press released in the Land of Lacandon: A graphic history of adventure and imperialism written by Richard Ivan Jobs and earlier this month by Stephen Van Wolptett.
In the land of Lacandon, it follows Bernard de Cormont, a French ethnographic player and amateur filmmaker who challenged Chaepath in the mid-1930s, studied Lacandon people, and broadcast his way of life to the curious European masses. Considered a “lost tribe,” Lacandon was considered the closest living relative of the ancient Mayans. De Cormont’s adventures attracted much attention, but Lacandon was silent in his story.
A century later, Richard Ivan Jobs and Stephen Van Wolputt created a graphic history based on the stories and images of De Cormont. It is presented with essays that contextualize the story and inspiring and reflective poems by Tosotzil’s writer Manuel Bolom Pale, providing an Indigenous perspective on encounters.
Beat spoke about Richard Ivan’s work on the land of Lacandon, how the story of a colonial imperialist hero appears in today’s media, and the history of exploration, science and media.
Ollie Kaplan: The “Preface” states that the graphic history format was chosen because the team could create a “single comprehensive story” from “a mashup of various scattered, incomplete original sources.”
Richard Ivan Jobs: There were dozens of original photographs and documentary films for use as visual sources. Additionally, there was a transcript and magazine article for a radio lecture, written by Bernard de Colmont himself. So, rather unusual about graphic history, we didn’t need to resort to inventing images or fictional narration to tell the story, but we could draw directly from major historical sources. As for the story itself, when I first came across it, when I wasn’t doing any research, I was looking at it as an adventure comic book. I had just finished a rather ambitious academic monograph and wanted to do something creative, artistic and fun with historical storytelling while adhering to historical methods.
Kaplan: How do you consider the story of imperialism in the land of Lacandon? What similarities are there between the imperialist gaze of the 19th century and the contemporary cultural or academic encounters with indigenous communities?
RIJ: We try to draw attention to the stories of imperialism by telling the stories of self-awareness of imperialism. Many of our contemporary ideas about race, civilization, hierarchy, modernity, and more have their roots in stories spoken about encounters with the indigenous peoples of European imperialism. These ideas remain permanent and embedded in our culture today, but there are also exceptional criticisms of them. For example, we need to consider Andor’s recent notable commentary on the Empire.
Kaplan: Who is Manuel Bolom Pale? What was his role in the project?
RIJ: Manuel Bolom Pale is a Chiapas award-winning creative writer. He is an indigenous Mayan, and often writes in Tutzir, the language of his indigenous people. Our book has a bit of a riff on who tells, who tells the story, who makes history, so we asked him to write something creative for a book that would help draw attention to these topics. His poems, published in Tsotsil and English, evoke a unique worldview from Lacandón, spoken through multiple perspectives.
Kaplan: Could you share with us about the collaborative process with Steven Van Wolputte?
RIJ: Stephen joined very early on. I found periodicals, films, photography and radio lectures that are the basis of comics. So he began to think about that little bit while I continued researching, reading and writing. Most of the time, through email, sometimes by zoom, exchange ideas, exchange drafts, give feedback, and so on. It is important to point out that Stephen is an anthropologist who paints. So, intellectually, we understood each other very well by recognizing and developing themes, visually integrating them into comics, and similarly thinking about the points needed to develop them in essays.
Photo Credit: McGill-Queen’s University Press
Kaplan: How did you settle into a visual style reminiscent of European comics in the mid-European period?
RIJ: My first academic journal article was about comic censorship laws in postwar France. So I am very familiar with interwar and medieval comics, French-speaking countries, and more. Stephen is a Belgian and has a deep knowledge of comics/BD. From the beginning, I imagined the story as Tarzan or Tin Tin from the 1930s. Our graphics evoke the style of the era, using the format as both homage and critique.
Kaplan: Star Trek is quoted early on, and is quickly paralleled with fan criticism that TOS is bent over American imperialists. Does Gene Roddenberry’s concept of “Wagon Train to the Stars” reminiscent of the story of colonial hero Explorer?
RIJ: Captain Cook/Captain Kirk. Effort/Company. Both are ships filled with scientists on the voyage of discovery while working in colonization and empires. That brief reference brings attention to how the empire’s story is embedded in another theme we deal with: pop culture.
Kaplan: What sources and archives have been the most useful in developing this story? How do the public approach this type of historical research?
RIJ: That’s tough. Much of the material I found was scattered around archives and libraries from three countries. For example, radio transcripts proven particularly valuable were found in folders within boxes in a small archive in Paris. Still, a huge number of newspapers and magazines have been digitized and available and searchable across a variety of interfaces. You may need to apply for access, or there may be a fee. But that’s what you can do from anywhere with a merciless keyword search on the good internet. I would also like to note that many historical studies are secondary. In other words, you read the works of other historians. Learn a lot, get a better understanding of your material and guide you to other major sources. Please read everyone!
Kaplan: Graphic novels draw attention to the imperialist narrative of credibility and the harm they cause. Why is it valuable to look into history from a variety of perspectives?
RIJ: History itself is humanity. This is a past evidence study and interpretation. In other words, people created historical stories that are unique to a particular worldview. We explicitly wanted our readers to think about the history, anthropological, scientific and history of knowledge production. The expansion in which its history is studied and its stories are told helps us all to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the past.
Kaplan: What’s next? Are you planning on pursuing more graphics history, or was this a one-off project?
RIJ: Honestly, I don’t know. For the first time in 30 years, I haven’t worked on anything. Stephen and I had a great time working on this. I’m sure if one of us comes up with an idea, the other one will become enthusiastic. I won’t draw, so I need a collaborator!
Kaplan: Is there anything else you would like to add?
RIJ: I think we did something unique by using different literary forms to convey this history, to communicate graphics, essays, poetry and dialogue. I hope readers are illuminated and interesting.
Lands of Lacandon: Graphic History of Adventure and Imperialism is now available from McGill-Queen’s University Press.
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