Montréal o la periferia instabile

This article aims to analyze suburbs’ representation in contemporary comics set in the city of Montreal. First, we will define what suburbs are in the case of Montreal, as they are characterized both by typically north-American phenomena (residential suburbs) and by the “peripherization” of areas that are central in the urban fabric and vice-versa. Gentrification or decline contribute thus to modify the perception of whole neighborhoods, which are more or less central. Moreover, the many barriers that cross or surround the city (rivers, highways, tracks) form difficult to cross obstacles, which make of certain areas some kind of enclaves. Our analysis of a corpus of five comics published after 2010 and which portray peripheral neighborhoods will be carried out by using the semiotic tools of comics’ analysis as well as previous studies on the relationship between city and comics. We will thus tackle questions such as the relation between center and periphery, the diachronic evolution of the representation of suburbs, the relation individuals and society have with urban space.