November 2011 - I present for the first time on one of my major hobbies - COMIC BOOKS! In the beautiful University in Alcalá de Henares I was inveted to talk about cultural trauma and it's representation in Marvel's Avengers comic book series.
Nice people, a small town just outside of Madrid and interesting presentations made my two day trip to Spain a real joy!
But a sociologist amongst linguists? I felt slightly out of place, even if the local organizers, the audience and my fellow presenters welcomed me with open arms.
Abstract:
Marvel’s 'The Avengers: Earth mightiest heroes' books are the number one franchise in today’s world of comic books . But their rise in popularity was accompanied by a massive shift in tone. Marvel’s Avengers did not only face cosmic or supernatural menaces anymore, but the iconic superheroes had to deal with a wide array of the cultural and social problems that can be associated with the crisis of the still young 21st century - crisis experienced especially in the occidental society, whose master narrative is challenged by those events (e.g.: Langenbacher/Shain 2010; Alexander et al 2004). The topics covered in the saga of earth mightiest heroes cover a broad range: Touching terrorism, civil liberties, natural disasters, and wars led because of faith. And this trend will continue in the 2011 Avenger’s storyline 'Fear itself', as writer Matt Fraction said that it will be a tale 'relatable to where we are today and something that speaks to the world we live in. There is a shadow of anxiousness and anger, reason and discourse have taken a backseat to mob hysteria.'
The Author would argue that the ongoing saga of the superheroes is strongly embedded in the master narrative of the western society and the struggles experienced within it. Therefor the question has to be asked, if the ongoing comic book saga of earth mightiest heroes may be seen as a carrier for the development of cultural trauma, as the term was described by the sociologist Jeffrey C. Alexander.
The aim of the work in progress study is to find out how the overarching storylines presented in the main line of the Avengers Books relate to the real world crisis experienced since 2004 and try to determine if the saga of the Avengers can be identify as a carrier for the manifestation of cultural traumta in the collective identity of the occidental society.
Conference HP: 1st international conference on graphic novels
My presentation: Avengers and Cultural Traumta Presentation as PDF
(proceedings/paper available on demand)
