Theorizing the Superhero
Performativity and Politics
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Beschreibung
This book uses contemporary continental philosophy to develop an alternative theory of the superhero to the one currently offered by the comic book industry and comic book studies. Studying superheroes from South Asian pop culture, this book questions the definition of the superhero and the allegedly sacrosanct nature of its origin and identity in comic books. This book looks at the superhero as a performative figure and explores how the superheroic imagination opens up diverse modes of creative thinking. Superheroes studied in this book include Narayan Debnath’s Bantul the Great (comics), Premendra Mitra’s Ghanashyam Das or Ghanada (Tall Tale), Satyajit Ray’s Professor Trilokeswar Shonku (science fiction/fantasy fiction), and one of the nine gems of Emperor Akbar’s court, Raja Birbar or Birbal (mediaeval Indian history). By virtue of perpetual reconfiguration of its elements, the book argues, the concept of the superhero makes itself ‘always new’ and it is always already ‘open onto elsewhere’.
Aditya Misra, Ph.D., is an independent scholar who has published essays and reviews in journals such as South Asian Review, Wasafiri: International Contemporary Writing, and Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry, among others.
This book uses contemporary continental philosophy to develop an alternative theory of the superhero to the one currently offered by the comic book industry and comic book studies. Studying superheroes from South Asian pop culture, this book questions the definition of the superhero and the allegedly sacrosanct nature of its origin and identity in comic books. This book looks at the superhero as a performative figure and explores how the superheroic imagination opens up diverse modes of creative thinking. Superheroes studied in this book include Narayan Debnath’s Bantul the Great (comics), Premendra Mitra’s Ghanashyam Das or Ghanada (Tall Tale), Satyajit Ray’s Professor Trilokeswar Shonku (science fiction/fantasy fiction), and one of the nine gems of Emperor Akbar’s court, Raja Birbar or Birbal (mediaeval Indian history). By virtue of perpetual reconfiguration of its elements, the book argues, the concept of the superhero makes itself ‘always new’ and it is always already ‘open onto elsewhere’.
Provides a radical re-thinking of the philosophy and politics of the concept of the superhero Theorizes the concept of the superhero by drawing on a number of figures in continental philosophy Studies figures in South Asian popular culture, like Shonku, Ghanada, and Birbal as superheroes
Autor*in
Aditya Misra
Themen in »Theorizing the Superhero«
Judith Butler Adriana Cavarero Superhero Studies Superhero and Performativity Deleuze and the Philosophy of the concept Narratable Self Politics of the Superhero
Stimmen zu »Theorizing the Superhero«
“This book harnesses unexpected philosophical traditions to read the fragmented place of the superhero in contemporary culture. Shaped by cartoon, caricature, tall tales, science fiction, and wit, the hero emerges as a delightful and idiosyncratic figure, radically breaking with the primary equation of superheroism with physical prowess.” (Saikat Majumdar, Professor of English and Creative Writing, Ashoka University, India)
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