The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College organized Peer Webinar: Chapter 16 on 27th February, 2023 at 7 pm. The speaker was Ms. Soumyosree Banerjee; her paper was entitled- “Dis-ability and the American Superhero: the Perfect and the Perfected”. The webinar was held on Google Meet; it was attended by the faculty members and the PG Semester III students of the Department of English.
The Peer Webinars are a unique monthly endeavour by the Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College that has facilitated an amiable atmosphere for the exchange of research ideas. In the sixteenth and the final chapter of this series of webinars, Ms. Banerjee tried to bring out the politics behind the projection of the ‘disabled body’ in the American Superhero comics. Her paper focused on three canonical superheroes from the Marvel comic universe, namely Captain America, Ms. Marvel and Daredevil and how each of them has been portrayed differently between 1970 and 1985. She observed while Captain America emerged in the 1950s, a time that was obsessed with the idea of the ‘perfect body’, the other two superheroes originate in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Disability Movement was at its peak in the United States. This varying representation of the ‘disabled’ superhero therefore delineates a sense of plurality within the American political discourse.
Ms. Banerjee began her presentation by locating and dismantling the concept of ‘disability’ along with the terms ‘impairment’, ‘malformed’ and ‘deformed’, through Foucault’s understanding of bio-power and bio-politics. She goes on to deduce how Captain America conveniently gets rid off his ‘disability’ in order to be a perfect representative of the American military services and Ms. Marvel’s disabled status leads to her superheroic self. Both the heroes depict a political legitimisation of their bodies, in order to turn into the perfect American superheroes. The body finds acceptance through Daredevil as his blindness becomes a significant aspect of his superhero identity. Unlike the other two heroes, Daredevil is more of a social hero who distinctively alienates himself from any significant political ideal. After answering the questions related to the disability movement concurring with the popularity of the comics, Ms. Banerjee tried to locate the ‘body politics’ in the representation of the ‘supercrip’ chronologically.
Ms. Banerjee’s presentation began with the portrayal of the metahumans-the mythical God-like perfect bodied superheros and ended with the depiction of the more human-like presentation of the new superhero, thus demonstrating the temporal changes in representation of disability.
The Department of English organised a special lecture on 30th April 2022 for the postgraduate students of the department. In this session, Dr. Siddhartha Biswas, Head of Department, English, The University of Calcutta, was invited to deliver a lecture on “Research Methodologies & Films”. The lecture was conducted to familiarize the postgraduate students with research …
The Department of Computer Science of The Bhawanipur Education Society College organised a One-Day Seminar on Implementation of NEP In B.Sc. Computer Science, on 1st July 2023, jointly with Council for Undergraduate Studies & Undergraduate Board of Studies in Computer Science, University of Calcutta, in collaboration with IQAC, The Bhawanipur Education Society College. The Seminar …
It has been said that “accounting is the language of business.” Digital accounting refers to the formation, representation and transmission of financial data in an electronic format. Technology advancements have enhanced the accountant’s ability to interpret and report data faster, more efficiently and more effectively than ever before. The greatest benefits of the digital age to productivity …
The Cultural and Educational Trip Committee of the Science Section of The Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata had organised a cultural programme on the occasion of the 161st Birth Anniversary of the great Bengali polymath, The Bard of Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore (sobriqueted as Biswakabi or Kabiguru) on 7th May, 2022 at the Jubilee Hall of …
Peer Webinar: Chapter 16, The Department of English
The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College organized Peer Webinar: Chapter 16 on 27th February, 2023 at 7 pm. The speaker was Ms. Soumyosree Banerjee; her paper was entitled- “Dis-ability and the American Superhero: the Perfect and the Perfected”. The webinar was held on Google Meet; it was attended by the faculty members and the PG Semester III students of the Department of English.
The Peer Webinars are a unique monthly endeavour by the Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College that has facilitated an amiable atmosphere for the exchange of research ideas. In the sixteenth and the final chapter of this series of webinars, Ms. Banerjee tried to bring out the politics behind the projection of the ‘disabled body’ in the American Superhero comics. Her paper focused on three canonical superheroes from the Marvel comic universe, namely Captain America, Ms. Marvel and Daredevil and how each of them has been portrayed differently between 1970 and 1985. She observed while Captain America emerged in the 1950s, a time that was obsessed with the idea of the ‘perfect body’, the other two superheroes originate in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Disability Movement was at its peak in the United States. This varying representation of the ‘disabled’ superhero therefore delineates a sense of plurality within the American political discourse.
Ms. Banerjee began her presentation by locating and dismantling the concept of ‘disability’ along with the terms ‘impairment’, ‘malformed’ and ‘deformed’, through Foucault’s understanding of bio-power and bio-politics. She goes on to deduce how Captain America conveniently gets rid off his ‘disability’ in order to be a perfect representative of the American military services and Ms. Marvel’s disabled status leads to her superheroic self. Both the heroes depict a political legitimisation of their bodies, in order to turn into the perfect American superheroes. The body finds acceptance through Daredevil as his blindness becomes a significant aspect of his superhero identity. Unlike the other two heroes, Daredevil is more of a social hero who distinctively alienates himself from any significant political ideal. After answering the questions related to the disability movement concurring with the popularity of the comics, Ms. Banerjee tried to locate the ‘body politics’ in the representation of the ‘supercrip’ chronologically.
Ms. Banerjee’s presentation began with the portrayal of the metahumans-the mythical God-like perfect bodied superheros and ended with the depiction of the more human-like presentation of the new superhero, thus demonstrating the temporal changes in representation of disability.
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