Hero characters and their narratives serve as important sites for negotiating a culture’s values. Informed by sexism in Western cultures, female heroes often construct and perpetuate women’s statuses as second-class citizens. However, female heroes also can and sometimes do work against such representations. This thesis argues for a third wave feminist interpretation of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men comic books as a text that brings multiple feminist perspectives into conversation with each other and that opposes certain patriarchal systems. Through narrative and formal analysis, I explore female X-Men Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde as characters who reject gender essentialism and misogynist value systems and whose relationship addresses concepts of difference in third wave feminism. Using similar methods, I also explore an interpretation of villain Danger as a failure to integrate radical feminist ideologies into third wave feminism. I believe that Astonishing X-Men provides an example of how norms of the mainstream superhero comic book medium, which scholars have criticized as sexist, can be reworked for a new generation of feminists. / text

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 luisa.pdf: 419235 bytes, checksum: eafeb45127c76780927c176a14608150 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-11 / The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the symbolical trajectory of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, a character created by Joss Whedon in the 1990s. The show which tells Buffy s story consists of 144 episodes, which where considered a ratings phenomenon in many countries. In order to reach this objective, all 144 episodes were watched and schematized in summaries, which made it possible to identify and discriminate significant events, images and sequences in the composition of Buffy and her journey. The themes that seemed to be relevant at this point were closely related to the hero s archetype, which is the motivator of the process of the development of consciousness. Therefore, the analysis is based on C. G. Jung s concepts of analytical psychology and on Joseph Campbell s study of the heroic cycle. Buffy is regarded as a contemporary image of the hero s archetype. Throughout her journey, she was faced with seven challenges of growing complexity, which called for deep transformation and encompassed the formation of the persona, the withdrawal of projections, and the process of making aspects of shadow and animus conscious and integrated. Her trajectory is crowned with the possibility of transforming herself as well as her surroundings. In the first six confrontations, Buffy finds a way to save the world, but in the last (the seventh), she transforms it. In addition, vampire symbolism, serial characters and aspects pertaining to mass culture are discussed and interrelated / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo a análise simbólica da trajetória de Buffy A Caça-Vampiros, personagem criada por Joss Whedon na década de 1990. O seriado que relata sua história é composto por 144 episódios, que foram considerados fenômeno de audiência em diversos países. Para a consecução desse objetivo, os 144 episódios foram assistidos e mapeados para a elaboração de sinopses, o que permitiu identificar e discriminar eventos, imagens e seqüências significativas na composição da personagem Buffy e sua jornada. A aproximação desse tema remete ao arquétipo do herói motivador do processo de desenvolvimento da consciência. A análise, portanto, está referenciada nos conceitos da psicologia analítica de C. G. Jung e no estudo do ciclo heróico desenvolvido por Joseph Campbell. Buffy é compreendida como uma imagem contemporânea do arquétipo do herói que, no decorrer de sua jornada, foi confrontada com sete desafios de complexidade crescente. Transformações intensas foram requisitadas e compreenderam a formação da persona, a retirada de projeções, a conscientização e integração de aspectos da sombra e do animus. A trajetória de Buffy é coroada com a possibilidade de transformação de si mesma e do meio que a circunda. Nos seis primeiros confrontos, Buffy encontra uma maneira de salvar o mundo, mas, no último, ela o transforma. Além disso, são discutidos o simbolismo do vampiro, as personagens seriadas e questões referentes à cultura de massa