This video is the adaptation of a conference given on April 23, 2019 at the Catholic University of Leuven, in Leuven, Belgium, and organized by Fanny Geuzaine and the GEMCA, ECR & GRIT research groups. The images are a slight adaptation of the PowerPoint used during the conference.

Abstract: Neil Gaiman's Sandman is fraught with varied intertexts, from the DC Universe to the history of comics, visual arts and literature. Medieval epic poetry, Elisabethan theatre, myths and legends are among the numerous elements that contribute to building up this giant fantasy crossover. The way those intertexts are integrated into the work is distinctive. In a gesture of sweeping metafiction, Sandman characterizes Shakespeare or figures from religious myth as subjects to the protagonist, a metaphysical monarch reigning over dreams and stories. Thus, and by simultaneously depicting Shakespeare as some forerunner of modern-day fantasy, by making more explicit the links between DC characters and their Biblical models, Sandman annexes other cultural fields within the field of fantasy. The same strategy can be perceived in several graphic choices, like quoting the spatio-topical structure of Little Nemo while juxtaposing it with the contents of Jack Kirby's old Sandman, thus creating both an uncanny atmosphere and a historical panorama of how dreams have been depicted in comics. Finally, Dave McKean's avant-garde covers allow the series to show off from the get-go its subversive drive regarding comic book canons. Contemporary art is thus used as a tool to advance Sandman's all-encompassing fantasy agenda. The series therefore appears as sort of counterpart to "postmodern" experimental works that draw from popular genres and culture to use them as tools for the avant-garde's subversion of language and representation.

Youtube link of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5FfEqCKAmg