Brussels is an illustrated city; all around the center and the various neighborhoods, you see murals of famous comic book characters, from Tintin to the Smurfs. So, as a comics scholar, Belgium is the place to be. The allure of studying in an international city drew me in, so I left sunny California for rainy Belgium in hopes of continuing studies I started back home on nationalism in popular culture.
And for the sake of the story, I will now turn transform into how I view myself in my mind’s eye.
My research snagged early on when I realized that national identity in Belgium is practically non-existent. This realization forced me to pivot to a new topic and I immersed myself in Ghent University’s Van Passen Comics Collection in search of inspiration. As I flipped through an seemingly endless amount of comic books, I found a surprising pattern: cowboys were everywhere. In periodicals, magazines, the covers of Spirou. The pile seemed never ending.
Up to this point, I’ve worn many hats in my life, but when I changed topics, I put on a (figurative) cowboy hat for the first time. I decided to focus on the prominence of cowboys and Western comics in Franco-Belgian magazines. It was surprising to me to find this overlap and it felt like the perfect project fell into my lap. The originality and niche-ness of this idea was a natural transition.
This new project focusing on the globalized West and Franco-Belgian cowboys was well received by my colleagues at Ghent university and “The Unexpected Yeehaw” came to fruition. When the opportunity to present “The Unexpected Yeehaw” at the U.S. Embassy arose, I was beyond excited to share the new direction of my research with my friends and colleagues.
Presenting at the US Embassy was an invaluable experience and it motivated me to engross myself in my research even more than I already was. Reflecting on the memory of standing at the podium with the opportunity to discuss my literary studies had led me to some conclusions on multiple aspects of my life.
Conclusion 1 – The academic: the Western as a genre is a tool of influence that is globally recognized but can be used to express specific narratives, that is a narrative that starts with heroic exploration and transitions to critique.
Conclusion 2 – Both as an academic and as a person, I have grown exponentially. Presenting at the Embassy took knowledge and skills that I gained from my Fulbright experience. The confidence I felt navigating my life far away from home has transferred into confidence in my studies and in myself.
Conclusion 3: The most important of all, I could not have been successful or grounded without the amazing friends I made while in Belgium. The Fulbright cohort consisted of some of the most brilliant and compassionate people I have ever met, and my colleagues at Ghent University were wonderfully supportive.
Being surrounded by my lovely, intelligent, and ambitious friends empowered me through some intensely gloomy days in Brussels. Through this experience, I have become resourceful and incredibly resilient. Like a rat, I scurried through my studies and throughout the city while experiencing exponential growth supported and supplemented by a newfound family.
There is a theory in comics studies presented by Hannah Sackett that argues the creation of comics is a process of exploring one’s identity. As I reflect on my time in Brussels, I decided to create this comic because if creation is a format of self-discovery, then this year of intense highs and challenges deserved some intentional introspection. And so far, creating this comic has allowed me to further develop appreciation for what I study while teaching me that there is significant room for improvement in my drawing skills. However, I have also found that I can be creative, dedicated, and incredibly resilient. And finally, I learned that even under a sunless sky, supportive friends can help you get through difficult times.
The invaluable experiences afforded to me by Fulbright like presenting at the Embassy are equal to the experiences I shared with friends in Brussels. Although my studies did not develop as originally planned, and despite the frigid winter, there have been moments of immense fulfillment. As I move forward, I can wholeheartedly say that thanks to Fulbright, I feel courageous enough to take on the next challenges and adventures in my life.
Audrey Alexis Garcia was a 2022-2023 Fulbright researcher to Belgium. Her research focused on political and ideological influence on classic Belgian comics. Audrey is an alumna from the University of California Irvine, Class of 2021. Previously, she worked as a Language Arts Tutor and substitute teacher. Audrey spent much of her free time volunteering in Brussels and engaging with her affiliates at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and at Ghent University.
Articles are written by Fulbright grantees and do not reflect the opinions of the Fulbright Commission, the grantees’ host institutions, or the U.S. Department of State.