In anticipation of Gabrielle Bell's new comic, Career Shoplifter (coming September!), we decided to look back at the first-ever comic by Gabrielle we published, L.A. Diary (2008). The comic included an essay on the history of the diary as a form, and how Gabrielle’s work fit into that tradition.
“The Diary as a form didn’t begin to flower until the Renaissance and the “invention” of the individual. However, a more ancient lineage of the Diary is indicated by the existence of the Latin term “diarum” or day. The Diary is a daily act; but what kind of act? Perhaps the first diaries were calendars. Before a diary can be kept, time must be invented. In the Paleolithic, ancient astronomers transformed lunar phases, flood cycles and other natural phenomena into marks on wood or bone. It was a way to gain knowledge and understand the forces that ruled their lives. Imagine the cognitive leap: “if I make a mark everyday, I will learn the secret of the moon.” It wasn’t just the invention of time, it was also the invention of process itself: the daily act through which something can be learned or achieved.”
Read the full essay here and preorder Gabrielle Bell’s Career Shoplifter below!
Best,
TOM K
