Pulp empire : the secret history of comic book imperialism

著者

    • Hirsch, Paul S.

書誌事項

Pulp empire : the secret history of comic book imperialism

Paul S. Hirsch

The University of Chicago Press, 2021

タイトル別名

Secret history of comic book imperialism

Comic book imperialism

大学図書館所蔵 件 / 全6件

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注記

Includes bibliographical references and index

Summary: "Paul Hirsch's revelatory book opens the archives to show the complex relationships between comic books and American foreign relations in the mid-twentieth century. Scourged and repressed on the one hand, yet co-opted and deployed as propaganda on the other, violent, sexist comic books were both vital expressions of American freedom and upsetting depictions of the American id. Hirsch draws on previously classified material and newly available personal records to weave together the perspectives of government officials, comic-book publishers and creators, and people in other countries who found themselves on the receiving end of American culture"-- Provided by publisher

収録内容

  • Introduction : making an American monster
  • This is our enemy
  • The wild spree of the laughing sadist
  • Donald Duck's atom bomb
  • The devil's ally
  • American civilization means airstrips and comic strips
  • The free world speaks
  • Thor battles the Vietcong
  • Conclusions : the ghosts among us

内容説明・目次

内容説明

In the 1940s and '50s, comic books were some of the most popular-and most unfiltered-entertainment in the United States. Publishers sold hundreds of millions of copies a year of violent, racist, and luridly sexual comics to Americans of all ages, until a 1954 Senate investigation led to a censorship code that nearly destroyed the industry. But this was far from the first time the US government actively involved itself with comics-it was simply the most dramatic manifestation of a long, strange relationship between high-level policy makers and a medium that even artists and writers often dismissed as a creative sewer. In Pulp Empire, Paul S. Hirsch uncovers the gripping untold story of how the US government both attacked and appropriated comic books to help wage World War II and the Cold War, promote official-and clandestine-foreign policy, and deflect global critiques of American racism. As Hirsch details, during World War II-and the concurrent golden age of comic books-government agencies worked directly with comic book publishers to stoke hatred for the Axis powers while simultaneously attempting to dispel racial tensions at home. Later, as the Cold War defense industry ballooned-and as comic book sales reached historic heights-the government again turned to the medium, this time trying to win hearts and minds in the decolonizing world through cartoon propaganda. Hirsch's groundbreaking research weaves together a wealth of previously classified material, including secret wartime records, official legislative documents, and caches of personal papers. His book explores the uneasy contradiction of how comics were both vital expressions of American freedom and unsettling glimpses into the national id-scourged and repressed on the one hand and deployed as official propaganda on the other. Pulp Empire is a riveting illumination of underexplored chapters in the histories of comic books, foreign policy, and race.

目次

Introduction: Making an American Monster 1 This Is Our Enemy 2 The Wild Spree of the Laughing Sadist 3 Donald Duck's Atom Bomb 4 The Devil's Ally 5 American Civilization Means Airstrips and Comic Strips 6 The Free World Speaks 7 Thor Battles the Vietcong Conclusion: The Ghosts among Us Acknowledgments Notes Index

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