Capes, Culture, and Racial Representation in Children's Superhero Narratives: A Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids.
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| Title: | Capes, Culture, and Racial Representation in Children's Superhero Narratives: A Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids. |
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| Authors: | HINES, CHRISTIAN M.1 cmhines@txstate.edu, RODRÍGUEZ-ASTACIO, RENÉ M.2 renerodriguez@csufresno.edu, |
| Source: | Journal of Children's Literature. Spring2024, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p10-21. 12p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Content analysis, *Young adult literature, *Culture, DC Universe, Graphic novels, Race in literature, Racial identity of white people, Brothers in literature |
| Abstract: | This article examines the representation of characters of color and the portrayal of racism in DC Graphic Novels for Kids. The authors analyze the superhero narratives written for elementary readers to understand how characters of color are depicted and whether discussions of racism are addressed or avoided. The article discusses the historical exclusion of characters of color in superhero narratives and the efforts by DC Comics to include more diverse characters and authors. The authors use a critical race content analysis framework to examine the selected graphic novels and highlight the importance of using superhero stories to challenge harmful ideologies and promote social justice in education. The article also includes a table that analyzes various DC graphic novels for kids, highlighting the characters of color and their roles in each story. The analysis reveals that while there are superhero characters of color, they often play supporting roles to white superheroes, citizens of color are used as moral lessons or tokenized, and villain characters of color lack nuanced backgrounds and motivations. The article also discusses the tension between narratives that avoid discussions of race and racism and the visual markers used to imply racial and ethnic identities. The DC Graphic Novels for Kids series takes a "color-evasive" approach by not explicitly addressing race, racial identity, or racism, positioning racial identity as incidental to the narrative. The series also perpetuates dominant ideologies and fails to critically question beliefs about geography, place, and race. While the inclusion of characters of color as superheroes is important, teachers should engage students in critical discussions about race and racism when using these texts in the classroom. The article [Extracted from the article] |
| Copyright of Journal of Children's Literature is the property of Children's Literature Assembly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 178604084 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Capes, Culture, and Racial Representation in Children's Superhero Narratives: A Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22HINES%2C+CHRISTIAN+M%2E%22">HINES, CHRISTIAN M.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> cmhines@txstate.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22RODRÍGUEZ-ASTACIO%2C+RENÉ+M%2E%22">RODRÍGUEZ-ASTACIO, RENÉ M.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> renerodriguez@csufresno.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22MILLER%2C+HENRY+"CODY"%22">MILLER, HENRY "CODY"</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo><i> hmiller@brockport.edu</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Children's+Literature%22">Journal of Children's Literature</searchLink>. Spring2024, Vol. 50 Issue 1, p10-21. 12p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Content+analysis%22">Content analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Young+adult+literature%22">Young adult literature</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Culture%22">Culture</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22DC+Universe%22">DC Universe</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Graphic+novels%22">Graphic novels</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Race+in+literature%22">Race in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Racial+identity+of+white+people%22">Racial identity of white people</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Brothers+in+literature%22">Brothers in literature</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: This article examines the representation of characters of color and the portrayal of racism in DC Graphic Novels for Kids. The authors analyze the superhero narratives written for elementary readers to understand how characters of color are depicted and whether discussions of racism are addressed or avoided. The article discusses the historical exclusion of characters of color in superhero narratives and the efforts by DC Comics to include more diverse characters and authors. The authors use a critical race content analysis framework to examine the selected graphic novels and highlight the importance of using superhero stories to challenge harmful ideologies and promote social justice in education. The article also includes a table that analyzes various DC graphic novels for kids, highlighting the characters of color and their roles in each story. The analysis reveals that while there are superhero characters of color, they often play supporting roles to white superheroes, citizens of color are used as moral lessons or tokenized, and villain characters of color lack nuanced backgrounds and motivations. The article also discusses the tension between narratives that avoid discussions of race and racism and the visual markers used to imply racial and ethnic identities. The DC Graphic Novels for Kids series takes a "color-evasive" approach by not explicitly addressing race, racial identity, or racism, positioning racial identity as incidental to the narrative. The series also perpetuates dominant ideologies and fails to critically question beliefs about geography, place, and race. While the inclusion of characters of color as superheroes is important, teachers should engage students in critical discussions about race and racism when using these texts in the classroom. The article [Extracted from the article] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Children's Literature is the property of Children's Literature Assembly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 12 StartPage: 10 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Content analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Young adult literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Culture Type: general – SubjectFull: DC Universe Type: general – SubjectFull: Graphic novels Type: general – SubjectFull: Race in literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Racial identity of white people Type: general – SubjectFull: Brothers in literature Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Capes, Culture, and Racial Representation in Children's Superhero Narratives: A Critical Race Content Analysis of DC Graphic Novels for Kids. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: HINES, CHRISTIAN M. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: RODRÍGUEZ-ASTACIO, RENÉ M. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: MILLER, HENRY "CODY" IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Spring2024 Type: published Y: 2024 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 15217779 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 50 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Children's Literature Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
