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. 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 Henri Gautier Bécassine resource site French comic strips Humor comics Slice of life comics Text comics Comics set in the 1900s Comics set in the 1910s French comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1905 1905 comics debuts Child characters in comics Comics about women Comics set in France Comics adapted into novels French comics adapted into films Female characters in comics French culture