Comic superheroes can explain modern sovereignty?   19 Apr 2016

Comic superheroes can explain modern sovereignty?

Comic superheroes have thrilled people of all ages for decades. Be it in a comic book, or on the big screen like blockbuster movie Batman v Superman.

But have you ever imaged what these superheroes would be like as sovereigns over real countries and people?

University of Auckland academic and comic fan Dr Neal Curtis has put the theory to the test in his new book,Sovereignty and Superheroes.

The book examines superheroes as sovereigns, addressing amongst other things the complex treatment of law and violence, legitimacy and authority. It examines all the main characters including Superman, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman and Iron Man along with a host of other heroes and heroines within the Marvel and DC universes.

Dr Curtis, a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University’s Faculty of Arts, says that in a century so far dominated by the war on terror, superheroes offer us the perfect opportunity to think through the nature of sovereignty in such times of emergency. The book not only guides the reader through some of the major story arcs in superhero comics, but also serves as an excellent introduction to a range of writings on the nature of sovereignty.

In his book Dr Curtis will argue that we can arrive at a more rounded understanding of superheroes if we read them as meditations on the problematic concept of sovereignty. Studying superheroes in terms of sovereignty allows us to see how these characters represent very complex and nuanced considerations of a range of issues, such as legitimacy, authority, kinship and community, the enemy and emergency powers.

“Despite the growing number of academic studies that take the comics seriously, superheroes are still blighted by the accepted view they are either dumb conservatives that blindly support the status quo or anti-social vigilantes with little respect for democratic institutions,” Dr Curtis says.

“Contrary to received opinion superhero comics regularly offer challenging and politically progressive treatments of them.”

Essential to the grammar and syntax of superhero comics is the idea of a struggle between all-powerful defenders of the worlds we build and an array of all-consuming villains and monsters that threaten total annihilation.

As neither of these opposing principles can ever be finally defeated, sovereignty is split between the forces of productive order and disorder.

The book takes a philosophical view of sovereignty as a range of concepts beginning with legitimacy of the good in Chapter 1; and defending freedom in Chapter 2.

The book continues with studies of law and violence in Chapter 3; the friend and enemy distinction in Chapter 4; emergency powers in Chapter 5; symbolic authority and kinship in Chapter 6; and the problematic conception of the absolute in Chapter 7.

Dr Curtis says as the field of comics studies continues to grow and gain greater legitimacy within literature, the cultural importance of superheroes can only continue to rise.

“These comics are worlds in which violence reigns supreme, but they also offer us numerous ways to challenge and question the basis of that violence and the grounds that supposedly make it legitimate. This is how superheroes can truly help us today.”

Add a comment