Bécassine is a French comic strip and the name of its heroine, appearing for the first time in the first issue of La Semaine de Suzette on February 2, 1905. She is considered one of the first female protagonists in French comic history.While one of the earliest female comics characters, she is not the very first. That honour goes to Gene Carr's Lady Bountiful (1901) () and Winsor McCay's Hungry Henrietta (1905).
Bécassine has had a long history of publication and syndication and has been desscribed as an enduring figure in French comics. Since 1 January 2024, the series has been in the public domain.
Character
The character Bécassine is a young Breton housemaid, usually depicted wearing a green dress pastiching traditional Breton peasant costume, with lace coiffe and clogs. She is said to come from Finistère, the area most associated with traditional Breton culture. However, her clothing has non-Breton elements, reminiscent of the local costume of Picardy. She is usually portrayed without a mouth.
Seen as a stereotype and remnant of the contempt with which the Bretons were long seen, she is the typical provincial girl as seen by the more refined city people of Paris, the target audience of the young girls' magazine La Semaine de Suzette. But over the course of the stories, and coupled with the success she has, she is depicted more and more favourably. "Bécassine" is a nickname, derived from the French word for a number of birds of the family of the snipe, which is also used as a way of saying "fool" in French.
History Initially made as filler for a blank page, the story, written by Jacqueline Rivière and drawn by Joseph Pinchon, was such a success that new pages regularly appeared, still in the guise of page fillers.
Only in 1913 did Bécassine become the heroine of more structured stories. Still drawn by Pinchon, the stories were then written by Caumery (pseudonym of Maurice Languereau), one of the associates of Gautier-Languereau, the publisher of La Semaine de Suzette. At that time, the character's real name was revealed to be Annaïck Labornez, her nickname coming from her home village, called Clocher-les-Bécasses.
Between 1913 and 1950, 27 volumes of the adventures of Bécassine appeared. Pinchon drew 25 of them, and Edouard Zier the other two. All 27 were credited as being written by "Caumery", but after Languereau's death in 1941, the pseudonym was used by others.
After Pinchon's death in 1953, the series continued with other artists, most notably Jean Trubert beginning in 1959.
With a first appearance three years before Les Pieds Nickelés, Bécassine is considered the birth of the modern bande dessinée, the Franco-Belgian comic. It marks the transition between the illustrated histories, or text comics, and the true bande dessinée. Its style of drawing, with lively, modern, rounded lines, would inspire the ligne claire style which Hergé 25 years later would popularise in The Adventures of Tintin.
After a decline in popularity, Bécassine regained prominence due to the hit single "Bécassine, c'est ma cousine" ("Bécassine, she's my cousin") by Chantal Goya, which sold over three million copies in 1979. It has been replied to by the Breton guitarist Dan Ar Braz with the song "Bécassine, ce n'est pas ma cousine" ("Bécassine, she's not my cousin").
The popular television show Le Bébête Show, a series that is similar to Spitting Image, showed far right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen in the guise of the puppet Pencassine.
In April 2005, the French Post issued a stamp depicting Bécassine for her centenary. In contemporary Brittany she remains a familiar figure, with Bécassine dolls and ornaments available in tourist shops.
Bibliography Source: Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (2002): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 2003-2004". Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur.
If not otherwise mentioned, Pinchon is the artist, Caumery the writer, and Gautier-Languereau the publisher.
VolumeYearTitle Remarks11913L'enfance de BécassinePublished by Gautier21916Bécassine pendant la guerrePublished by Gautier31917Bécassine chez les AlliésDrawn by E. Zier, published by Gautier41918Bécassine mobiliséeDrawn by E. Zier51919Bécassine en apprentissage61919Bécassine chez les Turcs71920Les Cent Métiers de Bécassine81921Bécassine voyage91922Bécassine nourrice101923Bécassine alpiniste111924Les Bonnes Idées de Bécassine121925Bécassine au pays basque131926Bécassine, son oncle et leurs amis141927L'Automobile de Bécassine151929Bécassine au pensionnat161930Bécassine en aeroplane171931Bécassine fait du scoutisme181932Bécassine aux bains de mer191933Bécassine dans la neige201934Bécassine prend des pensionnaires211935Bécassine a Clocher-les-Bécasses221936Bécassine en croisière231937Bécassine cherche un emploi241938Les Mésaventures de Bécassine251939Bécassine en roulotte261992Bécassine au studioOnly published then because the outbreak of the Second World War1921Alphabet de BécassineAlso published as Bécassine maîtresse d'école: published out of the main series1927Les Chansons de BécassinePublished outside the main series11959Bécassine revientNew series, drawn by Trubert, written by Camille François21961L'Alphabet de BécassineDrawn by Trubert, written by Vaubant31962Bécassine mène l'enquêteDrawn by Trubert, written by Vaubant
Film versions Bécassine was made into a film in 1940, directed by Pierre Caron with a story by Jean Nohain and René Pujol, and starring Paulette Dubost as Bécassine.
An animated film, (Becassine and the Viking Treasure), was made in 2001.
Another film adaptation, Bécassine, was released in France in 2018, and Bulgaria in 2019.
Notes
References Anne Martin-Fugier, La Place des bonnes : la domesticité féminine à Paris en 1900, Grasset, 1979 (reprinted 1985, 1998, 2004). Bernard Lehambre, Bécassine, une légende du siècle, Gautier-Languereau/Hachette Jeunesse, 2005. Yves-Marie Labé, « Bécassine débarque », in Le Monde, August 28, 2005. Yann Le Meur, « Bécassine, le racisme ordinaire du bien-pensant », in Hopla, #21 (November 2005 – February 2006).
External links Site about Joseph Pinchon, creator of Bécassine Bécassine stamp
Bécassine resource site