ENG.2004 (Re)Inventing the Superhero
The superhero has been one of the most visible figures to emerge from modern and contemporary pop culture. Primarily through the comic and graphic novel, the superhero has, in theory, reflected our hopes and desires, what we are and what we hope to be. At the same time, they have also inspired uncomfortable questions about state violence, militarism and vigilantism, colonialism, normative bodies and relationships, and social privilege and prejudices. Yet these questions have not gone without response, and particularly in the contemporary era, superheroes have undergone reinventions to correspond to evolving social concerns and audiences. This course examines the textual and visual transformations of the superhero, locating them within discourses of race, gender, sexuality, nationality, socioeconomic status, and disability. Has the superhero truly changed with the times? Or are they, as commonly accused, implicitly regressive? In turn, how are superheroes shaped by audience responses? The course will draw from the perspectives of gender, feminist, post- and decolonial, and disability studies to address the complex questions posed by the superhero's continued, ever-evolving hold on the popular imagination.
LA