Date of Award

12-1-2020

Language

English

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

College/School/Department

Department of English

Content Description

1 online resource (ii, 90 pages)

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Edward Schwarzschild

Keywords

Celebrities, Celebrity worship, Fiction, Superhero fiction, Superheroes, Good and evil, Hero worship

Subject Categories

English Language and Literature

Abstract

Abstract Gods Among Men is a creative text that functions critically to dissect the genre of superhero fiction and bring forth critiques of our culture of worshipping celebrities and political figures. I cite Woody Evans’ work in my critical introduction as being central to my project. Evans puts forth the idea that superheroes are inherently conservative because they are reactive agents that do not proactively change anything. They instead maintain the status quo. Villains, on the other hand, try to effect change for a different end, one they deem better for society. Through the use of characters, this text demonstrates that principle and reflects certain aspects of our culture around celebrities. It employs a large cast of characters to reflect a variety of phenomena related to celebrities and social issues. I hope that this project allows us to reconsider how we view celebrities and political figures so that we can reframe that view. I think by reframing that, we can then push for these figures to be held accountable and use their influence to proactively effect positive societal change.

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