Sublime Origins: the Spectacle and Power
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by The University of Utah: J. Willard Marriott Digital Library SUBLIME ORIGINS: THE SPECTACLE AND POWER OF EARLY AMERICAN SUPERHEROES by Whitney Elizabeth Borup A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English The University of Utah May 2017 Copyright © Whitney Elizabeth Borup 2017 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Whitney Elizabeth Borup has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Stuart K. Culver , Chair 3/3/17 Date Approved Howard Horwitz , Member 3/3/17 Date Approved Robert Stephen Tatum , Member 3/3/17 Date Approved Angela Marie Smith , Member 3/3/17 Date Approved Joseph Metz , Member 3/3/17 Date Approved and by Barry Weller , Chair/Dean of the Department/College/School of English and by David B. Kieda, Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT With the introduction of Superman in Action Comics #1 (published June 1938), Americans became fascinated with superheroes. Following the immediate success of Superman, the comic book industry created hundreds of characters that defied and surpassed all human capabilities. Radio, television, advertising, traditional publishing, and the film industry recognized the monetary potential of superheroes and these characters very quickly began proliferating across American popular culture. The economic success of this genre might be unprecedented, but American interest in strong, charismatic, extraordinary figures prefigures the birth of the superhero. In both the political and social arenas of the 1930s and 1940s, not only in the U.S. but also globally, citizens were curious about the human potential to control and transcend physical limitations. As a response to the fascism that threatened to overtake European countries, the United States produced their own strong leaders in mythic, fantastical, serial narratives. Embodying and evoking the sublime, superheroes astounded and terrified. They interact with a sublime aesthetic and paradoxically represent the appeal and irrevocable danger of absolute power. Through close readings of narratives about Superman, Batman, the Lone Ranger, Captain America, and Wonder Woman, I explore the contradictory nature of the sublime superhero, detailing how each character’s origin story creates a figure who both celebrates and challenges the moral and political virtues of American society. For Scott Knopf TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. vii Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 1.1 “By No Stretch of Critical Standards”: The State of Superhero Studies ...........1 1.2 Negative Pleasure and Sublime Origins ............................................................8 1.3 Defining a Genre ..............................................................................................13 1.4 “To Fight Injustice, To Right That Which Is Wrong, And To Serve All Mankind”: The Heroes ..........................................................................................18 1.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................23 1.6 Notes ................................................................................................................25 2. “HITHERTO UNWITNESSED BY MORTAL EYES”: SUPERMAN’S SHIFTING ORIGIN, 1938-1942 ....................................................................................................27 2.1 Introduction: “A Physical Marvel, A Mental Wonder” ...................................27 2.2 Sublime Origin: “He’s Not Human!” ..............................................................31 2.3 Superman’s New Deal .....................................................................................40 2.4 “Just Like Your Dad!”: Biological Antecedents ..............................................49 2.5 “Love and Guidance”: Superman Gets Sentimental .......................................57 2.6 “More Brawn than Brain” ...............................................................................64 2.7 Superman’s “Utter Amazement” ....................................................................69 2.8 Conclusion .......................................................................................................75 2.9 Notes ................................................................................................................80 3. SUBLIMITY IN THE SHADOWS: BATMAN’S DARK RATIONALITY ...............84 3.1 The Hyphenated Hero ......................................................................................84 3.2 “A Third Menacing Figure” .............................................................................89 3.3 Batman’s Origin: A “Curious and Strange Scene” ..........................................91 3.4 Building a Superhero .......................................................................................93 3.5 A Terrifying Myth ............................................................................................96 3.6 “Supreme Egotist[s]”: Batman vs. The Joker ..................................................98 3.7 Conclusion ....................................................................................................105 3.8 Notes ..............................................................................................................108 4. “A FABULOUS INDIVIDUAL”: THE LONE RANGER AND THE AMERICAN SUBLIME ..................................................................................................................110 4.1 The Western Superhero ..................................................................................110 4.2 The Lone Ranger’s Mythical American West ...............................................114 4.3 Exceptional American Spirit ..........................................................................119 4.4 “Born of Necessity”: The Ranger’s Sublime Authority ................................122 4.5 “Renegade Indians” and “White Friend[s]”: Tonto’s Fate ............................128 4.6 Sublime Violence ...........................................................................................132 4.7 Sublime Civilization: The Domestication of Silver .......................................136 4.8 Conclusion .....................................................................................................139 4.9 Notes ..............................................................................................................142 5. “NATION’S NO. 1 SPY BUSTER!”: CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL SUBLIME ...............................................................................146 5.1 Introducing the Patriotic Hero .......................................................................146 5.2 Ambivalent Power .........................................................................................149 5.3 The Technological Sublime ...........................................................................154 5.4 “Smashing Thru”: A Symbolic Fistfight .......................................................158 5.5 “A Character Out of the Comic Books” ........................................................160 5.6 Supersoldier Authority ...................................................................................167 5.7 “A Symbol of Courage”: Individual Limitations ...........................................171 5.8 Limited Individual Meets Omnipotent State ..................................................174 5.9 The Tempestuous Sidekick ............................................................................178 5.10 Conclusion ...................................................................................................181 5.11 Notes ............................................................................................................185 6. “NOW THAT WAS SOMETHING!”: WONDER WOMAN’S SUBLIME OBJECTHOOD ........................................................................................................189 6.1 “A New Type of Woman” .............................................................................189 6.2 “Like the Crash of Thunder from the Sky”: Sublime Wonder Woman .........195 6.3 Wonder Woman’s Love .................................................................................203 6.4 A Wonder Woman in a Man’s World ............................................................207 6.5 Sublime Objecthood .......................................................................................213 6.6 Sublime Maternity .........................................................................................223 6.7 Breaking Free .................................................................................................230 6.8 Liminality of the Female Sublime .................................................................237 6.9 Conclusion .....................................................................................................242 6.10 Notes ............................................................................................................245