Return to search

Queering The Clown Prince of Crime: A Look at Queer Stereotypes as Signifiers In DC Comics’ The Joker

The goal of this thesis is to explore the way heterosexism and homophobia are present in the coding that has created an implied and monstrous queer identity for the Joker, present in many versions of the character over the past forty years. Through close readings of several of the Joker’s most iconic appearances, queer theory texts, and analytical essays on pop culture, this paper will analyze the use of queer signifiers present in the comics and the way that these portrayals of the Joker are rife with harmful and heterocentric perceptions of what comic creators have seen as necessary signifiers for queerness. Additionally, I will be using knowledge gleaned from my own preexisting work with fan and cultural studies in order to talk about the way that this portrayal of the Joker has been developed within fandom/fan communities and how it is continually replicated in superhero media.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-4756
Date27 March 2018
CreatorsHutton, Zina
PublisherFIU Digital Commons
Source SetsFlorida International University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceFIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds