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'How ‘ya gonna keep’em down at the farm now that they’ve seen Paree?': France in Super Hero Comics
- Source :
- Transatlantica, Vol 1 (2010)
- Publication Year :
- 2010
- Publisher :
- Association Française d'Etudes Américaines, 2010.
-
Abstract
- Any extensive reading of super hero comics will reveal that the representation of France within the genre borrows mostly from touristic clichés, using the country as a foreign, exotic yet not too disorientating setting. Narrative economy and gradual refinements have led to the creation of a codified, consensual and unrealistic depiction of France, centered mostly on Paris and the Eiffel Tower. However, this efficient codification is not value-free. A study of Justice League Europe, a rare example of super-hero series set in France over a long period reveals that France is consistently depicted as a place of history, while being denied a contemporary significance. The country appears as a fascinating but subordinate neighbor, and this evaluation can in turn be found, albeit in a more elliptic way, in numerous series portraying France only in short episodes. The self-consciousness of modern super hero comics, however, suggests that the notion of representation should be handled with care. The depiction of France in super-hero comics originates in part in the perception of the country in the United States, but it also derives in a significant way from the internal evolutions of the genre.
- Subjects :
- History America
E-F
America
E11-143
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English, French
- ISSN :
- 17652766
- Volume :
- 1
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Transatlantica
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.68e845a7e49942799b67b563eb49c13e
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.4943