{"title":"“第四面墙破裂”:美国超级英雄漫画中假定的自我意识","authors":"Lucía Bausela Buccianti","doi":"10.1111/jpcu.13266","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Studies on reflexivity in the field of comics studies have been scarce and, more often than not, disconnected from each other, which has resulted in overlapping, and sometimes even contradicting, classifications of reflexive devices. Therefore, this article analyzes different instances of self-awareness in American superhero comics, as it has become quite a popular feature in recent years. In order to systematize the corpus of American comics which feature self-aware characters, Pardo's theoretical model of reflexivity results highly advantageous due to the fact that its transmedia categories provide a useful framework to explore those elements which are particular to comics narration, such as panels, speech balloons, splash pages, and more of the like. At the same time, this theoretical model connects comics' self-consciousness to the larger storytelling tradition of Western culture—after all, some of the most important studies on reflexivity stem from literary and film studies, from scholars such as Alter, Hutcheon, Waugh, and Stam, to mention a few. This article, then, provides a theoretical review of key definitions from the field of reflexivity before applying said categories to a corpus of American superhero comics which includes titles such as <i>The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl</i>, <i>Black Hammer</i>, and <i>Empowered</i>, as well as some <i>Bat-Mite</i> strips and a few <i>Deadpool</i> and <i>Harley Quinn</i> issues. The analysis mainly focuses on the diegetic disruptions that self-aware characters trigger in comics—particularly considering the formal elements of the medium—to prove that reflexivity, despite having been deemed as a tool to tackle serious existential and ontological issues in canonical works, operates as a bridge which brings readers as close as possible to the fictional realities in their favorite superhero comics.</p>","PeriodicalId":46552,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Popular Culture","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jpcu.13266","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"“Fourth-wall breakiness or whatevs”: Presumed self-awareness in American superhero comics\",\"authors\":\"Lucía Bausela Buccianti\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/jpcu.13266\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>Studies on reflexivity in the field of comics studies have been scarce and, more often than not, disconnected from each other, which has resulted in overlapping, and sometimes even contradicting, classifications of reflexive devices. Therefore, this article analyzes different instances of self-awareness in American superhero comics, as it has become quite a popular feature in recent years. In order to systematize the corpus of American comics which feature self-aware characters, Pardo's theoretical model of reflexivity results highly advantageous due to the fact that its transmedia categories provide a useful framework to explore those elements which are particular to comics narration, such as panels, speech balloons, splash pages, and more of the like. At the same time, this theoretical model connects comics' self-consciousness to the larger storytelling tradition of Western culture—after all, some of the most important studies on reflexivity stem from literary and film studies, from scholars such as Alter, Hutcheon, Waugh, and Stam, to mention a few. This article, then, provides a theoretical review of key definitions from the field of reflexivity before applying said categories to a corpus of American superhero comics which includes titles such as <i>The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl</i>, <i>Black Hammer</i>, and <i>Empowered</i>, as well as some <i>Bat-Mite</i> strips and a few <i>Deadpool</i> and <i>Harley Quinn</i> issues. The analysis mainly focuses on the diegetic disruptions that self-aware characters trigger in comics—particularly considering the formal elements of the medium—to prove that reflexivity, despite having been deemed as a tool to tackle serious existential and ontological issues in canonical works, operates as a bridge which brings readers as close as possible to the fictional realities in their favorite superhero comics.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":46552,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Popular Culture\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2023-10-20\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jpcu.13266\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Popular Culture\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"90\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.13266\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q4\",\"JCRName\":\"CULTURAL STUDIES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Popular Culture","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.13266","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"CULTURAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
“Fourth-wall breakiness or whatevs”: Presumed self-awareness in American superhero comics
Studies on reflexivity in the field of comics studies have been scarce and, more often than not, disconnected from each other, which has resulted in overlapping, and sometimes even contradicting, classifications of reflexive devices. Therefore, this article analyzes different instances of self-awareness in American superhero comics, as it has become quite a popular feature in recent years. In order to systematize the corpus of American comics which feature self-aware characters, Pardo's theoretical model of reflexivity results highly advantageous due to the fact that its transmedia categories provide a useful framework to explore those elements which are particular to comics narration, such as panels, speech balloons, splash pages, and more of the like. At the same time, this theoretical model connects comics' self-consciousness to the larger storytelling tradition of Western culture—after all, some of the most important studies on reflexivity stem from literary and film studies, from scholars such as Alter, Hutcheon, Waugh, and Stam, to mention a few. This article, then, provides a theoretical review of key definitions from the field of reflexivity before applying said categories to a corpus of American superhero comics which includes titles such as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Black Hammer, and Empowered, as well as some Bat-Mite strips and a few Deadpool and Harley Quinn issues. The analysis mainly focuses on the diegetic disruptions that self-aware characters trigger in comics—particularly considering the formal elements of the medium—to prove that reflexivity, despite having been deemed as a tool to tackle serious existential and ontological issues in canonical works, operates as a bridge which brings readers as close as possible to the fictional realities in their favorite superhero comics.
期刊介绍:
The popular culture movement was founded on the principle that the perspectives and experiences of common folk offer compelling insights into the social world. The fabric of human social life is not merely the art deemed worthy to hang in museums, the books that have won literary prizes or been named "classics," or the religious and social ceremonies carried out by societies" elite. The Journal of Popular Culture continues to break down the barriers between so-called "low" and "high" culture and focuses on filling in the gaps that a neglect of popular culture has left in our understanding of the workings of society.