Translation and Transnationality in Donald Duck Comics
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School School of Humanities THE DREAM OF THREE LIFETIMES: TRANSLATION AND TRANSNATIONALITY IN DONALD DUCK COMICS A Dissertation in American Studies by Peter Cullen Bryan ©2018 Peter Cullen Bryan Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2018 ii The dissertation of Peter Cullen Bryan was reviewed and approved* by the following: Charles J. Kupfer Associate Professor of American Studies and History Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Simon J. Bronner Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Studies and Folklore Anthony Bak Buccitelli Associate Professor of American Studies and Communication Samuel P. Winch Associate Professor Emeritus of Communications and Humanities Roderick Lee Associate Professor of Information Systems, School of Business Administration John R. Haddad Professor of American Studies and Popular Culture Chair of the Graduate Program in American Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. iii ABSTRACT Disney is one of the major cultural exports of America, with a multimedia empire of film, comics and even theme parks. Traditionally, the process has been regarded as one-sided and imperialistic, with Disney (and American culture at large) marching into new territories and asserting control over the native popular culture. This process is in fact more multifaceted, with American culture creating something entirely new in interactions with other cultures; the meaning is typically reinterpreted by outside audiences. This utilization of American culture also differs from the manner it is consumed domestically; Disney’s comics remain among the best-selling worldwide, instead of the niche products that they are in the American market. The success of Disney is not built on enforcing a march towards homogeneity; rather, the intellectual properties are adapted by translators, writers, artists, and consumers to take on new, relevant meanings within Germany in particular, where the properties have grown beyond their American origins. Three creators in particular stand out: Carl Barks, Erika Fuchs, and Don Rosa. Barks provides original context in both America and Germany, Fuchs and her translations offer clues into why the comics became popular, and Rosa works towards of an understanding of how the comics continued after the retirements of Barks and Fuchs. These three creators were crucial to the development of the fan communities around the comics, and the impact is still felt within the larger German society. American Studies has many blind spots; it is apt to ignore things which have already been "definitively" examined. I seek to examine Disney comics, particularly in a transnational context. However, the final word on this scholarship is Dorfman and Mattelart's Marxist reading of the comics How To Read Donald Duck, originally published in 1973 in the shadow of Pinochet's coup in Chile. It is a key work of scholarship on the power of the comic book, yet has iv effectively served as the last word on the Disney comic since. My endeavors to apply new theories to more fully examine the worldwide popularity of Disney's character have consistently faced the presumption that I am approaching the works from the same angle, just updated to current theory. This presumption of the work being couched within the post-colonial theory has created expectations with what the work should be. I believe that Disney's influence is different than is immediately apparent, and that the criticism of How To Read Donald Duck is not entirely unwarranted, but becomes overly simplistic when applied to the broader spectrum of Disney media worldwide. There is a tendency in academia to posit Disney as a harbinger of American imperialism and a fixture of neoliberal values, but I contend that their comics are not being read by the populace in the manner put forth. What I would do is in the same vein as Dorfman and Mattelart: reconsidering how these comics are received by their readers, and how that impacts the culture around them. Consensus among the fan community places Carl Barks as the most significant creator of Donald Duck comics, a paragon that enshrined the character and his supporting in the public consciousness the world over. The art and stories of Barks were the foundation upon which fandoms were built, and the subject of opposition from certain intellectual circles, but this view fails to consider the contribution of others in the development of this readership. The editor Erika Fuchs was single-handedly responsible for the written content of these comics in Germany for several decades, allowing her readers to consume them not as exotic foreign media but as familiar storybooks. Her translations are especially notable for subtly shifting and changing the written words to suit the German audience, and reflects a significant case for the consideration of translation studies. Fuchs's work allowed these comics on a position similar to that of superhero v comics in America, inspiring a continuous run of comic books, collected volumes, fan conventions, and even a traveling art exhibit. The modern state of Donald Duck fandom in Germany reflects the end result of a process of negotiation that reconsiders cultural imports within an existing cultural context. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables Page vii Acknowledgments Page viii Chapter 1: Why to Read Donald Duck Page 1 Chapter 2: How to Read How to Read Donald Duck Page 18 Chapter 3: “The Empire-Builder from Calisota”: Donald Duck and the Rise of Disney Page 35 Chapter 4: “Donald Gets Drafted”: Donald Duck at War and as Propaganda Page 55 Chapter 5: “The Good Duck Translator”: Erika Fuchs and the Exporting of Donald Duck Page 78 Chapter 6: “The Buckaroo of the Badlands”: Carl Barks Remembering the Frontier Page 120 Chapter 7: “Guardians of the Lost Library”: The Development of Duck Fan Communities Page 149 Chapter 8: “Always Another Rainbow": Fans, Publishing, and the Return(s) of Donald Duck Page 172 Chapter 9: “The King of the Klondike”: Don Rosa and (Re)envisioning the Frontier Page 198 Chapter 10: “From Duckburg to Lillehammer”: Barks, Rosa, and Duck Artistic Hybridity in Donald Duck Page 212 Chapter 11: “A Duck’s Eye View of Europe”: Conclusions on the Significance of Donald Duck Comics Page 228 Works Cited Page 234 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Wartime Animated Productions Page 59 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Brittany Clark: Woody to my Buzz, Sundance to my Butch, you saw me through this. Once more unto the breach, dearest friend. Charles Kupfer: you kept me on task, and on track, and helped me put this together. Simon Bronner: you took a chance on me, and made this all possible. Anthony Buccitelli: your unwieldly annotated bibliography assignment was the backbone of this. Sam Winch: you came back from retirement for one last defense. Roderick Lee: you provided a new perspective on a few small problems. Peter Kareithi: you helped me come to terms with how to approach the big bad Disney. Cindy, Jennie, Tina, Hannah: I would most surely have dropped out of the program from being trapped in paperwork hell; thank you kindly for all that you do. Peter Lehman, Sarah Wilson, Tiffany Weaver: we had a good run. 602 represent! Emilia Yang: you introduced me to Henry Jenkins, and put me on this path. Julia Morrow: your wisdom and kindness kept me on the path. Lynn Bartholme and the Ray and Pat Browne Library at Bowling Green State University: when I was lost on how to proceed, you showed me a way forward, and gave me hope anew. Peter Berg and the Michigan State Special Collections: you told me I was the only one that explored the fanzine collections; thank you for keeping them ready for me. Joseph Cullen: you always believed in me, and I wish you could see me now. Chris Cullen: you helped me out when I was just starting, and believed in me entirely. Collette Cullen: it was a conversation with you that planted this seed; its growth continues. Papa: you instilled in me a work ethic that remains, even when I don’t want to get up so early. Mama: you saved my ass a thousand times, and made me promise to write a book about it. This is that book, more or less. 1 Chapter 1. Why to Read Donald Duck What does it mean that Donald Duck is more popular today in the rest of the world than in his home country? In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Donald Duck comics were the best- selling comics in the American market, with Uncle Scrooge #1 being by some accounts the best- selling comic in history. Something changed in the 1960s that saw the character displaced in American newsstands, while his popularity concurrently grew worldwide. Explaining this shift of Donald Duck into a globally-consumed popular culture icon, while declining in his home country, forms part of this dissertation's rationale. In present day Italy, Donald Duck (there called Paperino) appears on every newsstand, often in the guise of a Batman-style superhero. In Sweden, Donald Duck (Kalle Anka) is a Christmas tradition watched by half the country annually. In Germany, Donald Duck (Dagobert Duck) has inspired a travelling art exhibit called Duckomenta. These countries each have considerably different cultures and hail from different regions: Sweden in Scandinavia, Italy in the Mediterranean, Germany in Central Europe. Each must be approached as independent settings, and while the emphasis in this dissertation will be on the American and German components, Donald Duck delights readers for reasons that will be identified and analyzed. Americans still recognize Donald Duck: most anyone over the age of three knows the character on sight. He is certainly a cultural icon of some force: his visage appears on orange juice and ice cream, and he has masqueraded as the Oregon Duck during various University of Oregon sporting events since 1947.