Overview

From his first comic-book appearance in 1939 through his many incarnations on the big screen, the archetypal superhero known as The Batman has never been far from the American consciousness. The character shaped the way we read comics and graphic novels, view motion pictures, and analyze the motifs of the Hero, the Anti-Hero and the Villain. He has also captured the scholarly imagination, telling us much about our society and ourselves. These essays examine how Batman is both the canvas on which our cultural identity is painted, and the Eternal Other that informs our own journeys of understanding. Questions relating to a wide range of disciplines--philosophy, literature, psychology, pop culture, and more--are thoroughly and entertainingly explored, in a manner that will appeal both to scholars and to fans of the Caped Crusader alike.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kevin K. Durand ,  Mary K. Leigh
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.313kg
ISBN:  

9780786446292

ISBN 10:   0786446293
Pages:   228
Publication Date:   30 September 2011
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Preface MARY K. LEIGH      Introduction: What Has Adorno to Do with Gotham? KEVIN K. DURAND      Part One: The Ethics and Anarchy of Batman 1. Virtue in Gotham: Aristotle’s Batman MARY K. LEIGH      2. The Dark Knight Errant: Power and Authority in Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns CHRISTOPHER BUNDRICK      3. Why Adam West Matters: Camp and Classical Virtue KEVIN K. DURAND      4. Dark Knight, White Knight, and the King of Anarchy STEPHANIE CARMICHAEL      5. Introducing a Little Anarchy: The Dark Knight and Power Structures on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown SUDIPTO SANYAL      Part Two: Batman and Literary Theory 6. Batman’s Canon: Hybridity and the Interpretation of the Superhero KEVIN K. DURAND      7. Seminar on the Purloined Batarang: Batman and Lacan MITCH FRYE      8. Queer Matters in The Dark Knight Returns: Why We Insist on a Sexual Identity for Batman JENÉE WILDE      9. The Hero We Read: The Dark Knight, Popular Allegoresis, and Blockbuster Ideology ANDREA COMISKEY      10. Rolling the Boulder in Gotham RANDY DUNCAN      11. Figuration of the Superheroic Revolutionary: The Dark Knight of Negation D. T. KOFOED      Part Three: Batman and Beyond 12. “One May Smile, and Smile, and Be a Villain”: Grim Humor and the Warrior Ethos MELANIE WILSON      13. “And Doesn’t All the World Love a Clown?”: Finding the Joker and the Representation of His Evil MICHAEL SMITH      14. Call It (Friendo): Flipism and Folklore in No Country for Old Men and The Dark Knight MATTHEW FOTIS      About the Contributors      Index     

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Author Information

Kevin K. Durand is the dean of academics at the LISA Academy College Preparatory School in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has published broadly in philosophy, religion, and ethics. Mary K. Leigh is a doctoral academy fellow at the University of Arkansas.

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