the From Classical Hero to Superhero: exploration of the role of the hero in Modernity through the character of Superman.

Abstract

Superman is one of the most recognized contemporary representations of the modern hero, and the first figure to be called a superhero, since his creation in 1938, prevailed as a defender of goodness and justice throughout the decades and the constant evolution of the world, even as he has passed through different writers and phases of history. This article proposes to examine the concept of “hero” through the figure of the Superman character, as an agent of ethical action within popular culture. It will analyze the narrative structure of the superhero comic book, and the axiology represented in his stories, in order to construct a concept of the heroic that reflects the ethical and ideological values of a modernity impregnated in the pages of the comic book that serves as a vehicle of diffusion for the popular masses. This is intended to answer the question: how do the values that define the modern hero align or contrast with the representation of the Superman character in the plot of his stories? 

The article will be mainly supported by a hermeneutic approach, using as a basis Mieke Bal's (1985) narrative analysis and Joseph Campbell's (1959) conception of the mythic hero, for the analysis of the limited comic book series, Superman: For All Seasons. The main hypothesis of the article considers that the Superman stories directly or symbolically construct a new conception of the “hero” reminiscent of classical figures but adapted to contemporary concerns.