The image of the president and his critique in superhero comics in the historical context of the Russian-American relations in the 1980s
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2024-2-22-37
Abstract
The aim of the study is to determine the specifics of criticism of a politician and the institution of the presidency in popular culture using the example of the critique of Ronald Reagan in the comics during his tenure. The object of the analysis is the representation of the US President in the issues of the industry leaders of print superhero comics; the subject is the mechanisms of criticism of the institution of the presidency. The research methodology is based on a semiotic and iconological analysis of the visual material; a descriptive method is used to introduce the historical context. The image structures are analyzed using the film studies tools (analysis of dramaturgy, camera angles, film editing). The superherocomic book from the 1980s consistently deconstructs the image of the President, and particularly, the media component of that image. The article for the first time identifies the cinematic clichés that the comic book authors use in the construction of a critical narrative about Reagan, analyzes the ways of implementing the motive of the puppet nature of the institution of the presidency and studies the representation modes of the policy towards the USSR. The author concludes that by the end of the 1980s, a steady set of techniques and a repertoire of plots for the critical assessment of the US President had been formed in the superheroics.
Supporting agencies: This work was supported by the RussianScience Foundation under Grant № 22-18-00305, https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-18-00305/ “The images of enemy in Cold War popular culture: their content, contemporary reception and usage in Russian and U.S. symbolic politics”.
About the Author
N. Yu. Sputnitskaya
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography; Herzen State Pedagogical University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nina Yu. Sputnitskaya , Cand. of Sci. (Art Studies), associate professor; participant of the grant program
3, Wilhelm Pieck St., Moscow, 129226
48, Moika River Emb., Saint Petersburg, 191186
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Review
For citations:
Sputnitskaya N.Yu. The image of the president and his critique in superhero comics in the historical context of the Russian-American relations in the 1980s. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin Series "Political Science. History. International Relations". 2024;(2):22-37. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2024-2-22-37
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