Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-124). Also available via Humboldt Digital Scholar.

abstract: This dissertation examines the influential relationships between popular culture depictions of superheroes and the substantive, malleable, and real possibilities of human body transformation. Cultural discourses condition and constrain the ways in which identity and bodies are formed and expressed. This includes popular culture texts that, through their evocative narratives, provide guidance or solutions for dealing with real world problems. From the perspective of communication studies, this project involves examining ways people project and perform fantastic future versions of humanity in relation to popular culture artifacts, like superheroes, but also examines how such projections are borne out of and get expressed through our everyday, less than extraordinary experiences. Key theoretical tensions regarding identity and culture are elucidated. These tensions are then developed discursively into a genealogy of body transcendence that features the historicizing of social functions to determine from where such tensions and changes manifest, and how they ultimately affect us. Several key artifacts are introduced to help inform the investigation, including eight specific superhero body types that provide an ideal perspective through which transformative power can be observed. The superhero discourse is particularly relevant because it offers a utopian/dystopian tension regarding how the splendor and seduction of the discourse materializes in both liberating and problematic ways. Another aspect of this embodied approach involves adopting the alternate superhero persona of Ethnography Man. By undertaking my own identity transformations, I am better able to investigate spaces that encourage such identity slippage and play, such as the annual San Diego Comic Con International. The once strongly held perception that our bodies are fixed and stable is fast disappearing. In bridging the body with culture through a genealogy, it becomes much more apparent how body transformations will continue to manifest in the future. Therefore, from the experiences and analysis contained herein, implications regarding powerful discursive conditions and constraints that influence our ability to change take form in revealing, problematic, and sometimes unexpected ways. More specifically, implications of who has power, how it is exercised, and the effects of power will materialize and indicate whether or not everyday humans have the potential to become superheroes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication Studies 2012

In recent years superhero movies have skyrocketed in popularity, bringing with them plots and characters that tend to exhibit high levels of aggression. As social learners, humans often learn from what they observe, and especially emulate characters they admire – including fictional superheroes and villains. Consequently, this study content analyzed non-physical aggressions (verbal aggression, relational aggression, and violent ideation) in the top 25 highest grossing superhero movies between 2005 and 2015. Results found an average of 171.8 acts of non-physical aggression per movie. Females in these movies were also significantly more likely to engage in verbal and relational aggressions, which contributes to gender stereotypes about aggression. Unfortunately, due to a failure in intercoder reliability testing, these results are unreliable.

This thesis examines and argues that superhero narratives, beginning with their comic book origins in the early twentieth century, exhibit many of the qualities found in folklore. Furthermore, these narratives not only demonstrate a folkloric evolution across multi-media formats, including printed work, television, and film, but that they fit within classic hero narrative structures posited by various folklore theorists. The hero theories presented by Lord Raglan, Vladimir Propp, and Joseph Campbell, along with traditional folklore patterns of dynamism and conservatism discussed by Barre Toelken, Alan Dundes, and others, support the assertion that folklore can, and does, exist and propagate in the mass media popular culture sphere. What follows is an academic analysis of core folklore elements, as well as a presentation of how these core qualities can be found in superhero narratives, and how the discipline of folklore may benefit from a study of these narratives.

No description available.

No description available.

A study of the history of how Superman came to be identified with Jesus Christ. / This thesis examines the historical trajectory of how the comic book character of Superman came to be identified as a Christ figure in popular consciousness. Superman was created in 1938, but the character developed significantly from his earliest incarnations. This thesis argues that the connections between Superman and Jesus were not integral to the character as he was originally created, but were imposed by later writers over time and mainly for cinematic adaptations. There is a notable difference between how Superman is portrayed in the comics and the films because the films are aimed at a broader audience and have different marketing aims. Superman turned into a Christ figure for financial reasons in many ways. This thesis also tracks the history of how Christians and churches viewed Superman, as the film studios began to exploit marketing opportunities by comparing Superman and Jesus. This thesis uses the methodological framework of intertextuality to ground its treatment of the sources, but does not follow all of the assumptions of intertextual theorists because discussions of authorial intention are necessary for the narrative that this thesis pursues. The connection between Superman and Jesus was not inevitable and cannot be seen wholly as a byproduct of the changes in the surrounding American culture because this connection was a product of specific artistic decisions by particular creators—who were not necessarily Christians themselves. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis examines the historical trajectory of how the comic book character of Superman came to be identified as a Christ figure in popular consciousness. It argues that this connection was not integral to the character as he was originally created, but was imposed by later writers over time and mainly for cinematic adaptations. This thesis also tracks the history of how Christians and churches viewed Superman, as the film studios began to exploit marketing opportunities by comparing Superman and Jesus. This thesis uses the methodological framework of intertextuality to ground its treatment of the sources, but does not follow all of the assumptions of intertextual theorists.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-11-12T10:55:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Pablo Ribeiro Cardoso.pdf: 4461936 bytes, checksum: 63c9955bd9b623838e08da4bcc3fde5b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-11-12T10:55:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pablo Ribeiro Cardoso.pdf: 4461936 bytes, checksum: 63c9955bd9b623838e08da4bcc3fde5b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-09-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This research has as its main objective to discuss overcoming the organic limits of the body through biotechnological interventions, taking as basis the superhero characters. Starting from the field of changes in the biopowers listed by Nikolas Rose and the anthropogenic effects of biotechnologies, it initially seeks to understand the emergence of the posthuman concept and how it implies new ways of thinking the body in the contemporary, especially from the proposals for human enhancement. The posthuman is thought of as an umbrella term to refer to a variety of different movements and schools of thought, including scientific, philosophical, artistic, and mystical discussions of the most varied aspects. Aiming to offer contributions on the subject, contemporary projects of human enhancement through biomedical/biotechnology paths are studied, thus excluding from this research transcendental approaches or the ones that preach the total substitution of the biological body for digital. Once these projects have been explored, based on Lucia Santaella's conceptualization of prostheses, ways of overcoming the limits of the human body through biotechnological interventions are discussed, with biotechnological hybridization of the new prostheses as the main focus. Choosing superheroes as interlocutors in this debate, the research rescues their historical and social backgrounds, delineates who these characters are, and analyze the bodies portrayed by them, named by Scott Jeffery as superhuman bodies. It explores, therefore, the different ways in which superheroes illustrate the idea of an improved human body. Finally, to support the role of superheroes as basis of the discussions proposed in the research, the text dialogues with descriptions of adventures and images from comic books or films which these characters are the protagonists / Esta pesquisa tem como seu objetivo central discutir superação dos limites orgânicos do corpo a partir de intervenções biotecnocientíficas, tomando como disparadores os personagens super-heróis. Partindo do campo das mudanças no âmbito dos biopoderes elencadas por Nikolas Rose e dos efeitos antropogênicos das biotecnologias, busca-se inicialmente compreender a emergência do conceito pós-humano e como ele implica novos modos de se pensar o corpo no contemporâneo, especialmente a partir das propostas de melhoramento humano. O pós-humano é pensado como um conceito guarda-chuva que abriga uma multiplicidade de saberes que envolvem tanto discussões científicas quanto filosóficas, artísticas e místicas das mais variadas vertentes. Visando oferecer contribuições acerca do tema, são estudados projetos contemporâneos de melhoramento humano por vias biomédicas/biotecnocientíficas, excluindo, assim, dessa pesquisa as abordagens transcendentais ou que pregam a substituição total do corpo biológico pelo digital. Uma vez explorados tais projetos, fundamentados na conceituação de Lucia Santaella sobre próteses, são discutidos modos de superação dos limites do corpo humano a partir das intervenções biotecnológicas, com principal destaque para o hibridismo biotecnológico das novas próteses. Elegendo os super-heróis como interlocutores desse debate, a pesquisa resgata seus antecedentes históricos e sociais, delimita quem são esses personagens e analisa os corpos retratados por eles, nomeados por Scott Jeffery como corpos super-humanos. Explora-se, portanto, os diferentes modos em que os super-heróis ilustram a ideia de um corpo sobre-humano. Por fim, para sustentar o papel destinado aos super-heróis como disparadores das discussões propostas na pesquisa, o texto dialoga com descrição de aventuras e imagens oriundas de histórias em quadrinhos ou filmes protagonizados por essas figuras

Este trabalho analisa a influência das representações do diálogo gênero/ciência presentes na Cultura das Histórias em Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis na construção da identidade de gênero de seus consumidores. Utilizando bases da semiótica , buscamos compreender seus efeitos na construção da identidade de gênero e na relação que seus consumidores desenvolvem com a aprendizagem e o conhecimento das Ciências: em sua origem, os Quadrinhos representavam uma mídia de entretenimento descompromissado, fortemente ligado ao desenvolvimento cultural e econômico de sua sociedade de origem, mas no decorrer dos últimos anos do século XX e início do XXI, seus personagens evoluíram e passaram a convergir entre as muitas mídias de entretenimento disponíveis em nossa sociedade, que passaram a transmiti-los como produto, acompanhados de um discurso carregado por ideologias e valores sociais. Nossa pesquisa iniciou a partir de uma investigação das teorias dos Estudos Culturais e das questões de Gênero, seguida pelo levantamento histórico da origem da Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis até seu ponto focal: a publicação das aventuras dos dois primeiros super-heróis de cada gênero, Superman e MulherMaravilha, uma concepção binária. Com essa base teórica, desenvolvemos uma série de intervenções informais em um ambiente formal, sob a forma de oficinas ministradas a alunos de uma EMEF de tempo integral, no contra turno de suas aulas. A análise do material envolveu o uso de elementos da Semiótica de Greimas e da técnica DAST desenvolvida por Chambers (1983). Os resultados permitem concluir uma forte relação entre as representações de gênero e a propagação de estereótipos masculinos de cientistas na Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis. Indo além, este conhecido universo narrativo de predominância masculina se baseia da interpretação binária para gênero, estabelecendo uma ligação entre os atributos masculino/feminino e um conjunto de valores, no qual a Ciência é ligada somente ao masculino. Ao final, concluímos que a Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis desempenha um papel importante na formação da identidade de gênero de seus consumidores. / This Thesis analyses the dialogue between gender / science representations in the Superheroes Comic Book Culture, starting from a semiotic study, to understand its effects on the construction of gender identity of its consumers and the vision they develop about learning and doing Science. In its origin, the Comic Books was an uncompromising entertainment media, with a strong link to the cultural and economic development of its society, present in their narratives. During the last years of the XX century and the arrival of the XXI, its characters evolved and converged between many media platform that become present in our society, thus making their speech, fulfilled with ideologies and social values, kind of omnipresent. Our research started with an investigation about how the Cultural Studies and Gender theories can be applied over the Culture of Comics of Superheroes, chasing its focal point: the publication of the adventures of the first two binary superheroes, Superman and Wonder-Woman. From this theoretical basis, we developed a series of informal interventions in a formal learning space, workshops that was ministered to students of a full-time School. The analysis of our data has been made using elements of the Greimas Semiotics and the Chambers (1983) DAST technique. Our results allow to conclude a strong relationship between gender representations and the propagation of scientists stereotypes in the Culture of Superheroes. Going further, this well-known narrative universe of masculine predominance bases itself on a binary gender interpretation, establishing a connection between masculine / feminine attributes and a set of values, in which Science is viewed as a masculine field of knowledge, acting as an important player in the formation of the gender identity of its readers.

Este trabalho analisa a influência das representações do diálogo gênero/ciência presentes na Cultura das Histórias em Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis na construção da identidade de gênero de seus consumidores. Utilizando bases da semiótica , buscamos compreender seus efeitos na construção da identidade de gênero e na relação que seus consumidores desenvolvem com a aprendizagem e o conhecimento das Ciências: em sua origem, os Quadrinhos representavam uma mídia de entretenimento descompromissado, fortemente ligado ao desenvolvimento cultural e econômico de sua sociedade de origem, mas no decorrer dos últimos anos do século XX e início do XXI, seus personagens evoluíram e passaram a convergir entre as muitas mídias de entretenimento disponíveis em nossa sociedade, que passaram a transmiti-los como produto, acompanhados de um discurso carregado por ideologias e valores sociais. Nossa pesquisa iniciou a partir de uma investigação das teorias dos Estudos Culturais e das questões de Gênero, seguida pelo levantamento histórico da origem da Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis até seu ponto focal: a publicação das aventuras dos dois primeiros super-heróis de cada gênero, Superman e MulherMaravilha, uma concepção binária. Com essa base teórica, desenvolvemos uma série de intervenções informais em um ambiente formal, sob a forma de oficinas ministradas a alunos de uma EMEF de tempo integral, no contra turno de suas aulas. A análise do material envolveu o uso de elementos da Semiótica de Greimas e da técnica DAST desenvolvida por Chambers (1983). Os resultados permitem concluir uma forte relação entre as representações de gênero e a propagação de estereótipos masculinos de cientistas na Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis. Indo além, este conhecido universo narrativo de predominância masculina se baseia da interpretação binária para gênero, estabelecendo uma ligação entre os atributos masculino/feminino e um conjunto de valores, no qual a Ciência é ligada somente ao masculino. Ao final, concluímos que a Cultura dos Quadrinhos de Super-Heróis desempenha um papel importante na formação da identidade de gênero de seus consumidores. / This Thesis analyses the dialogue between gender / science representations in the Superheroes Comic Book Culture, starting from a semiotic study, to understand its effects on the construction of gender identity of its consumers and the vision they develop about learning and doing Science. In its origin, the Comic Books was an uncompromising entertainment media, with a strong link to the cultural and economic development of its society, present in their narratives. During the last years of the XX century and the arrival of the XXI, its characters evolved and converged between many media platform that become present in our society, thus making their speech, fulfilled with ideologies and social values, kind of omnipresent. Our research started with an investigation about how the Cultural Studies and Gender theories can be applied over the Culture of Comics of Superheroes, chasing its focal point: the publication of the adventures of the first two binary superheroes, Superman and Wonder-Woman. From this theoretical basis, we developed a series of informal interventions in a formal learning space, workshops that was ministered to students of a full-time School. The analysis of our data has been made using elements of the Greimas Semiotics and the Chambers (1983) DAST technique. Our results allow to conclude a strong relationship between gender representations and the propagation of scientists stereotypes in the Culture of Superheroes. Going further, this well-known narrative universe of masculine predominance bases itself on a binary gender interpretation, establishing a connection between masculine / feminine attributes and a set of values, in which Science is viewed as a masculine field of knowledge, acting as an important player in the formation of the gender identity of its readers.