In times of hardship and distress, the need for heroes
becomes strong. In history, all cultures have responded and represented the
origin, the life and death of the hero, as a calling out to deal with
insecurity, precariousness and downright danger. In ancient times, the hero or
the heroine was a warrior both skilled in the art of war but also possessing an
outstanding moral compass and selflessness. The heroes were considered both
idols and ideals and stood for the pinnacle point of the human ability to be
more than mere humans. Thus, heroism can be used to describe a part of culture
and society that strives to be better for the collective good.
Tina Turner may have sung “We don’t need another hero” in
George Miller and George Ogilvie’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). In the
desert sand of the dystopian future Turner’s cry for “no hero” gives rise not
to the hero that the people want, but to the hero the people need. This theme
was also the punch line of Christopher Nolan’s Batman: The Dark Knight (2008). The dark caped crusader flees on his ingenious Bat-bike into the night
for a crime he has not committed, but a crime to which he needs to be blamed
for the good in the urban people to shine bright. But as a society, as
individuals, as citizens we do need heroes. We need them so much that we create
an abundance of them to keep the hope of justice and the hope of a future bright.
In ethnography, social anthropology, leadership and
organizational studies, history and cultural studies the hero is considered the
protagonist that will help good vanquish evil (Franco et al. 2018; Frisk 2019;
Jayawickreme & Di Stefano 2012). But as modern popular culture has
demonstrated in novels, movies and comic books the hero or heroine is walking
on the line of being an antagonist to the same people, he or she intended to
protect. Thus, the notion heroism is an ambiguous one. The hero or heroism
reflects what is good and best in human beings and their collective, but this
reflection has flaws, cracks, and even distortions. The hero is a liminal
character, walking the line between-and-betwixt good and evil, here and beyond.
As liminal being the hero can be turned, but will only remain or renew his
status as hero if the hero turns back.
So, how can “heroism” be understood as a cultural
phenomenon? One that both can be ancient and hypermodern, but also can be as
enigmatic like the uncompromising “hero” Rorschach in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen (2009). How are we to understand the mythical tales and everyday press stories
of heroism considering our present time of individualization, individualism,
and constant connectivity?
This issue of Academic Quarter calls for contributions on
the theme of “Heroism” from a broad range of studies of history, philosophy,
culture, community, audiences, fans, literature, media, movies, comics,
computer games and toys. But the theme of heroism is not confined to the realms
of fiction and realism. All heroes or heroines do not wear cowls, capes,
spandex outfits or use ancient artifacts or fancy tech-gadgets. Browsing the
social and content sharing network site YouTube results in many representations
of “everyday heroism” from all over the world. Videos presenting firefighters
and paramedics saving lives, citizens helping senior citizens in difficulty or
distress, and healthcare personnel selflessly working beyond their call and
duty (Scheipers 2014; Jordanova 2014). These videos function as both a
recognition and a celebration of what Michel de Certeau called “the everyday
man” (de Certeau 1984). Heroism is among and amidst us every day, and this
reminds us that heroism is a title that society or groups of citizens attribute
to certain individuals that stand for that which we consider admirable and
good. As Thomas Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History (1841/2013) portrayed so-called great men or heroes and their roles in history,
whereas e.g. Karl Marx and Herbert Spencer adapted a wider scope to the forces
forming history.
The theme of heroism, however, is massively represented and
reflected in the vast (re)production of superheroes. During the 2000s and the
2010s some of the biggest box office successes in the world of movies are
narratives and visualisation of superheroes, and gendered aspects of heroism
have become manifest as “superheroines” have taken the scene. The
representation of the super human and was born in the 1930s with the emergence
of the superhero as an independent character. Though the history of the
superhero dates much further back than the advent of the heroes of Action
Comics and Detective Comics, in the 1930s the world of superheroism was
created in times of economic and social depression (Coogan, 2006). The
superheroes were both alien and from earth, and their domain was the growing
cities and the constant waves of crime and disorder. The Second World War
presented the superheroes with the ultimate foe: Nazis. The fight against human
evil became the defense for values of individualism, freedom, national identity
and patriotism. In the 1960s the superheroes looked to the stars and were
confronted with intergalactical beings and aliens and heeded the call to fight
for humanity and human rights. In the more recent superhero movies and
streaming series meta-humans and super-beings explore precisely what defines to
be human as the basis of heroism (MacDonald et al, 2018). Or in the words of
late Stan Lee’s web wielding teenager, Spider-Man: With great power comes great
responsibility!
This issue of Academic Quarter invites journal article
contributions from the scholarly areas of, but not exclusive to, literature
including comics and graphic novels, art, film and media, ethnography,
anthropology, cultural studies and management and organisational studies.
The
theme of the articles can be subsumed under these headings within the following
themes:
- Heroism and diversity: Gender, ethnicity, alienism
- Heroism and remediation: From book to movie, from comic to digital content, podcasting on heroism in popular culture
- Heroism and narrative: Origin stories, myths, news reports and discourse
- Heroism and commercialization: Merchandizing, learning programs, coaching
- Heroism and belief systems: Religion, values, utopia, the divine in man
Submission of abstract: September 15th 2019
Submission of full article: November 15th 2019
Submission of revised/final article: March 1st 2020
Publication of article in journal volume: June 2020
Abstracts in app. 150 words in either Danish or English must
be submitted by September 15th 2019 to guest editor Tem Frank Andersen (tfa@hum.aau.dk). The contributors will
receive answer as soon as possible. Accepted articles must be sent to the guest
editor no later than November 15th 2019. The article can be between
15.000-20.000 keystrokes (app. 3.500 words, spacing included), and must use the
Chicago System Style Sheet). The
submitted article will be sent to double blind peer-review. The authors will
receive the anonymised reviews during January 2020. The final and revised
article must be returned by March 1st 2020, and the issue will be published
June 2020.
Academic Quarter is authorized by the Danish
bibliometrical system, and the journal is subsidized by Danish Council for
Independent Research Culture and Communication.
Guest editors:
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario