Journal article
Black cat got your tongue?: Catwoman, blackness, and the alchemy of postracialism
Journal of graphic novels & comics, Vol.2(1), pp.3-23
06/01/2011
DOI: 10.1080/21504857.2011.577280
Abstract
This article explores the character Catwoman in the comic book Batman, the graphic novel Catwoman, and in her many media re-incarnations on television and in popular films. I examine the racialization, de-racialization, and sexual representation of the character Catwoman, while casting attention to how race - specifically Blackness - as well as sexuality and gender shapes production, perception, and interest among a wide variety of fans. In her television and feature film premier from the mid-twentieth century to the twenty-first century, I argue that Catwoman became a dubious mixture of 1960s civil rights protest, racial inclusion, and post-racial cultural politics. My analysis of Catwoman thereby provides an understanding of the impact gender, race, and sexuality has on production and consumption, and I aim to intervene in studies on comic book and graphic novel fandom where a female character's racial fluidity has yet to enter the scholarly discourse on comic books.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Black cat got your tongue?: Catwoman, blackness, and the alchemy of postracialism
- Creators
- Deborah Elizabeth Whaley - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of graphic novels & comics, Vol.2(1), pp.3-23
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- DOI
- 10.1080/21504857.2011.577280
- ISSN
- 2150-4857
- eISSN
- 2150-4865
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2011
- Academic Unit
- African American Studies; English; American Studies
- Record Identifier
- 9984397927102771
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