engleski

The Marvel of the American Dream in The X-Men Graphic Novels and Comic Books

The point of debate that is the focus of this paper is the position of graphic novels and comic books in relation to the (de)construction of the notion of the American Dream. This notion is, as one would suggest, heavily influenced by perpetuated notions of American national identity, which is discursively constituted with tolerance towards people from other parts of the world who can fulfill their dreams and get a better life in America, while the system enables that kind of chance and provides protection from any kind of danger and injustice that exists in other countries. To make the American Dream more firmly posted within the construction of American national identity, the relationship has to be reciprocal. When these values of America as a perfect nation that protects its people are established through discourse, by following Benedict Anderson’s concept of nation as the imagined space of collective belonging, the citizens who enjoy this kind of perceived security and opportunity attach themselves to that imagined space. This paper proposes that the concept of citizenship is a part of enabling someone to feel they are part of the American nation, which is formed with values that are established and perpetuated within popular media (including graphic novels). By relying on Lauren Berlant’s work on the construction of citizenship through specific narratives in popular culture, this paper focuses on the representation(s) of race, racism, and tolerance in superhero narratives that are seen as an integral part of American popular culture in establishing discourses about the American Dream and American national identity. The paper aims at addressing the specific case of the X-Men series, specifically the Giant Size X-Men issues, as an example that actively problematizes themes such as intolerance and diversity related to race while at the same time perpetuating different other discourses that stereotype certain nations and ethnicities. The paper attempts to determine specific practices for American citizenship in relation to the American Dream and the representation of the American Dream that is dependent on representation practices of race, ethnicity, and gender in the aforementioned X- Men canon.

American popular culture, comic books, cultural citizenship, difference, discourse analysis, visual analysis, race, gender, ethnicity

nije evidentirano