Advance Course                           Spring semester                           edreisha@post.tau.ac.il

 

While recent cinematic adaptations have elevated the figure of the American superhero to the forefront of popular culture, these iconic archetypes have existed in the American imagination for nearly a century. Originally designed as propaganda vehicles during World War II, figures such as Superman and Captain America have continuously evolved in the public eye, as the fictional worlds they inhabit have grown more complex and detailed. Their narratives have become a new kind of mythology, one which reflects (and in some cases, informs) shifts in the American social, cultural and literary landscape.

 

This course will track the development of specific characters in graphic literature over seven decades, from World War II to the turn of the century, and will examine how these characters have been consistently redefined to mirror new trends in feminism, psychology, narratology and postmodernism.

 

Reading list (tentative):

 

Roland Barthes, Image-Music-Text

Richard Reynolds, Superheroes: A Modern Mythology

Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By

Judith Halberstam, Skin Shows

Frederick Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent

Danny Fingeroth, Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us

Paul Lopes, Demanding Respect: The Evolution of the American Comic Book

Mike Madrid, Supergirls

Sherrie A. Innes, Action Chicks

Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture

Frederic Jameson, Postmodernism

Roz Kaveney, Superheroes: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films

Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of Supervillains