Research Catalog

Title

Superheroes and superegos : analyzing the minds behind the masks / Sharon Packer.

Author

Packer, Sharon

Publication

Santa Barbara : Praeger, c2010.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 275 p.; 25 cm.

Summary

"Psychiatrist and social advocate Fredric Wertham lobbied against comics because of their sexual and sadistic subtext and their potential to reverse women's roles and encourage same-sex behavior. However, Wertham's McCarthy-Era stance forgot that early superhero comics foretold Hitler's threat - and offered solutions." "Superheroes have provided entertainment for generations, but there is much more to these fictional characters than what first meets the eye. Superheroes and Superegos: Analyzing the Minds Behind the Masks begins its exploration in 1938 with the creation of Superman and continues to the present, with a nod to the forerunners of superhero stories in the Bible and Greek, Roman, Norse, and Hindu myth. The first book about superheroes written by a psychiatrist in over 50 years, it invokes biological psychiatry to discuss such concepts as "body dysmorphic disorder," as well as Jungian concepts of the shadow self that explain the appeal of the masked hero and the secret identity." "Readers will discover that the earliest superheroes represent fantasies about stopping Hitler, while more sophisticated and socially-oriented publishers used superheroes to encourage American participation in World War II. The book also explores such questions as how the feminist movement and the dramatic shift in women's roles and rights were predicted by Wonder Woman and Sheena nearly 30 years before the dawn of the feminist era."--Jacket.

Subject

• Superheroes > Psychological aspects
• Archetype (Psychology)
• Myth
• Popular culture
• Comic books, strips, etc. > United States > History and criticism

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction : superheroes and superegos -- How it happened : comic book characters become blockbuster cinema superstars -- The spandex stretch : between the supernatural and the soap opera -- Ancient myths and modern minds : 1909-2009 -- "With a strong hand and an outstretched arm" : Old Testament traditions -- Myths of metamorphosis : "be all you can be--but much more" -- The secret self : the shadow self, the split self (and the steroid self) -- Family feuds and family romances : "it's a family affair" -- Sex and superheroes : sublimated and subversive -- "What do women want?" -- Sickness strikes : "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're not out to get you" -- The wounded warrior : post-traumatic strength disorder -- Conclusion : self-help story, political polemic, or flight into fantasy?

ISBN

• 9780313355363 (hc. : alk. paper)
• 0313355363 (hc. : alk. paper)
• 9780313355370 (ebook)
• 0313355371 (ebook)

LCCN

^^2009042453

OCLC

• 429027455
• SCSB-11627414

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library