About the Book
Despite the growing importance of heroines across literary culture—and sales figures that demonstrate both young adult and adult females are reading about heroines in droves, particularly in graphic novels, comic books, and YA literature—few scholarly collections have examined the complex relationships between the representations of heroines and the changing societal roles for both women and men.
In Heroines of Comic Books and Literature: Portrayals in Popular Culture, editors Maja Bajac-Carter, Norma Jones, and Bob Batchelor have selected essays by award-winning contributors that offer a variety of perspectives on the representations of heroines in today’s society. Focused on printed media, this collection looks at heroic women depicted in literature, graphic novels, manga, and comic books. Addressing heroines from such sources as the Marvel and DC comic universes, manga, and the Twilight novels, contributors go beyond the account of women as mothers, wives, warriors, goddesses, and damsels in distress.
These engaging and important essays situate heroines within culture, revealing them as tough and self-sufficient females who often break the bounds of gender expectations in places readers may not expect. Analyzing how women are and have been represented in print, this companion volume to Heroines of Film and Television will appeal to scholars of literature, rhetoric, and media as well as to broader audiences that are interested in portrayals of women in popular culture.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
I. Literature
Chapter 1: To Heck with the Village: Fantastic Heroines, Journey and Return, Sandra J. Lindow
Chapter 2: From Duckling to Swan: What Makes a Twilight Heroine Strong, Tricia Clasen
Chapter 3: Salem’s Daughters: Witchcraft, Justice, and the Heroine in Popular Culture, Lauren Lemley
Chapter 4: Heroine: Christina of Markyate, K. A. Laity
Chapter 5: The Bohemian Gypsy, Another Body to Sell: Deciphering Esmeralda in Popular Culture, Adina Schneeweis
Chapter 6: Writing Women in War: Speaking Through, About, And For Female Soldiers in Iraq, Christina M. Smith
II. Exotic, Foreign, Familiar, and Queer
Chapter 7: The Borderland Construction of Latin American and Latina Heroines in Contemporary Visual Media, Mauricio Espinoza
Chapter 8: Janissary: An Orientalist Heroine Or a Role Model For Muslim Women?, Itir Erhart & Hande Eslen-Ziya
Chapter 9: Representations of Motherhood in X-men, Christopher Paul Wagenheim
Chapter 10: Negotiating Life Spaces: How M
About the Author :
Maja Bajac-Carter is a doctoral candidate in Communication Studies at Kent State University. Her research focuses on gender, identity, and media studies. She is a contributor to We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life . . . and Always Has (2014).
Norma Jones has a PhD in communication and information from Kent State University. She is an editor of Rowman & Littlefield's Sports Icons and Issues in Popular Culture book series and is coeditor of Aging Heroes: Growing Old in Popular Culture (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015).
Bob Batchelor teaches in the Media, Journalism & Film department at Miami University and is the founding editor of the Popular Culture Studies Journal. Batchelor edits the Contemporary American Literature and Cultural History of Television book series for Rowman & Littlefield. Among his books are John Updike: A Critical Biography (2013), Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), and Mad Men: A Cultural History (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
Review :
The release of Heroines of Comic Books and Literature...could not have been timelier.... The well-organized thought processes throughout should prove to be refreshing to the comic book fan, even though it reveals some uneasy, though necessary truths, of these heroine portrayals.... Heroines of Comic Books and Literature boasts nineteen succinct chapters by a collection of authors who aptly command authority in their respective areas of expertise. A notable inclusion of comic artist, writer, and Will Eisner Hall of Fame inductee Trina Robbins adds panache to an already credible list of educators and scholars. The variety of case studies and methodologies will certainly satisfy those who want more from their popular culture analysis. Collections like this can potentially fall into the trap of stylistic inconsistency, but the editors may be credited for a book filled with direct, punchy writing that provokes the reader to want more from each chapter. This book is perhaps best described as an academic’s Jezebel — it approaches popular culture in a manner that welcomes discussions and is appropriately critical, well researched, even-tempered, and, is still, wildly passionate.
