scholarly journals Harley Quinn and the carnivalesque transformation of comic book fandom

The antihero Harley Quinn was first introduced as the Joker's "henchwench" in Batman: The Animated Series (1992). The character soon developed a dedicated fan base, including enthusiasts who did not conform to traditional definitions of comic book fans. Recognizing Harley Quinn's popularity, DC Comics subsequently incorporated the character into comic book continuity. Today, Harley Quinn is a transmedia icon extended across multiple media platforms. In this article, audience research and creator interviews were performed to show how Harley Quinn has been used by both fans and industry stakeholders to transform long-standing (and often outdated) definitions of comic book fandom. Much of Harley Quinn's transformative potential comes from invoking a carnivalesque tradition that defies boundaries. Harley Quinn's popularity is not simply symptomatic of a widening comic book fandom but was active in that transformation.

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-118
Author(s):  
Craig Haslop

Focusing on the spin-off series Torchwood, lauded by academics and popular media for its liberating and frank representations of fluid sexuality, this chapter discusses audience research using focus groups exploring Torchwood’s representations of queer masculinity, analyzing respondents’ responses to the masculinity of the leading character, Captain Jack Harkness, and the recurring character, Captain John Hart. While not ostensibly superheroes or supervillains in the comic book sense, research participants positioned them as super-human or god-like. Using the notion of homonormativity, the pressure on queer people to conform to heteronormativity, this chapter highlights how, despite foregrounding the leading man as fluidly sexual, Torchwood suggests a homonormative hypermasculinity dominating much of Western gay male culture, which deradicalizes queer identity and renders it safe for heteronormativity and, by association, hypermasculinity.


Author(s):  
Sue Wright

In this article the author explores the use of imagination and clinical intuition in psychotherapy. She discusses the functions of imagination and how the capacity to be creative and for flexible imagining emerges within a secure attachment relationship in early childhood. Winnicott's ideas are important here. She also discusses what happens when trauma or relationship failings compromise the transitional space and uses case examples to illustrate some responses to this breakdown. To set the scene the author discusses changing views on illusion and imagination from Freud onwards to the present day when we are informed by recent findings in neuroscience and interpersonal neurobiology. It is richly illustrated with theory and case material.


Author(s):  
Chris Perriam ◽  
Darren Waldron

This book advances the current state of film audience research and of our knowledge of sexuality in transnational contexts, by analysing how French LGBTQ films are seen in Spain and Spanish ones in France, as well as how these films are seen in the UK. It studies films from various genres and examines their reception across four languages (Spanish, French, Catalan, English) and engages with participants across a range of digital and physical audience locations. A focus on LGBTQ festivals and on issues relating to LGBTQ experience in both countries allows for the consideration of issues such as ageing, sense of community and isolation, affiliation and investment, and the representation of issues affecting trans people. The book examines films that chronicle the local, national and sub-national identities while also addressing foreign audiences. It draws on a large sample of individual responses through post-screening questionnaires and focus groups as well as on the work of professional film critics and on-line commentators.


DeKaVe ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terra Bajraghosa

Comic ges. Based on comprehention as a narrative media, comics in Indonesia are oftenly compared to bas-reliefs on Borobudur temple and Wayang Beber.. From many kind of stories Indonesian comic books recently offered, with the developed visual wrapping, some comics steal attentions by its unique themes. These comic books are created because of the inspiration and relation to music industry. These comic books couldn't be seen from the visual style alone, as they were created in many visual genres, but they could be seen from their relations to music industry, whether the mainstream or indie ones. These comic books are published together with the music CDs, telling fictional stories from factual bands or musicians, telling a band's factual stories, or created by one of the band members. To understand modes of creation of these music industry-related-comic books, visual narrative approach will be applied. Through visual narrative approach, the band members' or musician's necessity for telling stories via comics, beside the common practices via music and song lyrics, will be observed.Keywords : Comic book, music industry, visual narrative


Author(s):  
E. W. Nikdel

With the advent of online distribution and the rise of multiple media devices, claims of the cinema’s imminent death have surfaced with greater intensity than ever before. Of course, with an ever-widening array of platforms these accounts have placed a newfound emphasis on the cinema as a distinctive physical space, one that plays host to a very particular and much cherished cultural activity. This article considers the substance of these claims by tracing a very particular historical route. Firstly, be revisiting Baudry’s notion of the dispositif, this article detects the importance of the physical environment in the process of film consumption. Secondly, I relate this emphasis on the physical to the traditional notion of the cinephile, a practice that ritualises the cinema experience. Many accounts across the spectrum of film history will attest to the profound ways in which the physical experience of the cinema summons a rich emotional response. Lastly, I consider how the cinema and the collective nature of film consumption provides an authentic trace to the past and a very certain time and place in history. In turn, despite competition from cheaper and more convenient platforms, this article will endeavour to show how the cinema retains its place at the centre of contemporary film culture. KEYWORDS Cinema, dispositif, cinephilia, cultural memory.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Landon Jossy

This study looked at how males and females were portrayed, based on the amount of skin shown in the clothing worn.  A Content analysis was performed on a sample of 20 randomly selected popular comics from the last 3 years.  Both male and female characters were rated on how much skin they showed in three clothing categories; neck line, sleeve length, and lower body.  Results showed that in all 3 categories, women consistently wore more revealing clothing.  The findings demonstraetd that the comic book industry is comparable to other forms of media, in the sexualization of female characters, by having them wear more revealing clothing.


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