The Mutant Problem: X-Men, Confirmation Bias, and the Methodology of Comics and Identity
2015 (English)In: European Journal of American Studies, E-ISSN 1991-9336, Vol. 10, no 2, p. 1-16, article id UNSP 4Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This article suggests that scholarship on comics and identity is vulnerable to strong confirmation bias. Engaging with a few common assumptions presented in writing on X-Men comics (1963–1970, 1975–1991) and identity, it offers alternative interpretations on the series’ engagement with the Cold War, civil rights, individual authenticity, persecution, and the Holocaust. Based on these discussions, the article then offers a few methodological suggestions that might help reduce bias in future studies of comics and identity.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
European Association for American Studies , 2015. Vol. 10, no 2, p. 1-16, article id UNSP 4
Keywords [en]
Cold War, whiteness, civil rights, comics and identity, comics studies, confirmation bias, existentialism, Holocaust, homo superior, identity politics, individual authenticity, Jewishness, mutantcy, persecution, X-Men
National Category
History of Religions History General Literature Studies
Research subject
Humanities, Comparative literature; Humanities, English literature; Humanities, History
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-38423DOI: 10.4000/ejas.10890ISI: 000365095300004OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-38423DiVA, id: diva2:767088
2014-11-292014-11-292024-01-16Bibliographically approved