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| Prof. Anthony Enns collected comic books as a kid and now he's teaching a course about them. (Danny Abriel Photo) |
It鈥檚 official: comics are cool. The Dark Knight steamrolled its competition at the multiplex, Japanese 鈥渕anga鈥� comics are stocked en masse at your local library, and Free Comic Book Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of May throughout North America.
All signs say that the comic book鈥攅r, 鈥済raphic novel鈥濃�攊s enjoying an unexpected renaissance. Perhaps it鈥檚 no surprise then, that one of AV俱乐部鈥檚 newest courses will be taught with the help of Donald Duck, Wonder Woman and maybe even Dr. Seuss.
This winter, (ENGL 2080)聽 is joining the Department of English鈥檚 offerings.
鈥淭he department was looking for this kind of a course for a while, since before I came here,鈥� says Anthony Enns, cultural theorist and AV俱乐部 professor. Julia Wright, Dal professor and Canada Research Chair in European Studies, proposed the course and wrote the syllabus, but Prof. Enns, currently working on a critical essay about comic books, is taking the reins.
English 2080 will trace the history of cartoons and comics, from 18th- and 19th-century political propaganda to the golden age of Marvel and DC.
鈥淭here are many different ways to teach (this course),鈥� says Prof. Enns. 鈥淥ne obvious (way) would be to take a strict literary approach鈥攔ead more highbrow comic books and make an argument for comic books as literature鈥� If you were going to teach the course that way, I think you would probably not bother to teach superheroes. I think that would be a mistake.
鈥淪o much of graphic material is made up of the superhero genre. It would be wrong to just ignore it.鈥�
Cultural ideologies
But what kind of cultural ideologies could possibly be encoded in kryptonite and batmobiles? 鈥淚 was thinking I was going to do a unit on Wonder Woman,鈥� he says. 鈥淚s Wonder Woman a strong feminist figure, or is she a kind of a sex kitten? ... (William Moulton) Marston, the creator, was really into S and M, he loved being tied up 鈥� there鈥檚 some aspect of sexual titillation to the Wonder Woman character.鈥�
Wonder Woman鈥檚 male co-workers are not exempt from similar inspection. 鈥淔or Batman, I鈥檓 going to do homosexuality 鈥� There are some articles championing Batman as a sort of queer hero.鈥� He is bemused by the Robin-less state of most modern Batman literature; the Boy Wonder was conspicuously absent from blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. 鈥�(Frank) Miller鈥檚 Dark Knight Returns turns Robin into a woman鈥� (Miller) really tries to avoid the whole Batman/Robin relationship.鈥�
Hardcore comickers will not be surprised that classic superhero controversies will be taught鈥攖hey date back to the decency debates of the early 20th century. But even the most serious fans may be startled to hear about other items in Prof. Enn鈥檚 curriculum鈥攆or instance, a possible unit on Donald Duck. The problem isn鈥檛 Donald鈥檚 lack of pants; rather, it鈥檚 the imperialist ideology he presents. In fact, children鈥檚 literature is often loaded with cultural implications. 鈥�Babar is often read as a parable about colonialism,鈥� Prof. Enns explains. 鈥淏abar is educated in Europe and that鈥檚 the reason why he鈥檚 the king of the elephants.鈥�
Prof. Enns is also well-versed in more traditionally highbrow graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman鈥檚 Pulitzer-winner Maus, a Holocaust fable told, like Orwell鈥檚 Animal Farm, through the use of animals-as-people. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to look at it through this question of racial representation. The choice to represent Jews as mice and Nazis as cats鈥� It鈥檚 offensive, but in an intentional way鈥� it鈥檚 impossible to accuse Maus of being Nazi propaganda. That鈥檚 silly鈥� but (Art Spiegelman) is definitely playing on the history of Nazi propaganda.鈥�
Pop culture rules
Although English 2080 won鈥檛 be taught until January, the course is already full with a waitlist besides. It鈥檚 no surprise that students are queuing up鈥擯rof. Enns has an obvious enthusiasm for his subject matter. 鈥淲hen I was younger, I collected comic books. I quit when I was in my 20s. Now I鈥檓 coming back as a critic.鈥� He lists Alan Moore鈥檚 Watchmen and Frank Miller鈥檚 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns among his personal favorites. 鈥淚 was also into alternative comics鈥擨 loved (Robert) Crumb.鈥�
He Enns hopes the course will be accessible to all students: 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be less English-oriented鈥� It鈥檚 really going to be more like sociology or anthropology. Cultural studies ask the question of 鈥榳hat do comic books reveal about the culture that produced them?鈥� That answer is different for every single comic.鈥�
鈥淧op culture says more about us than our highbrow culture,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚f you go back to the 18th century, the tools that dentists use say more about class differences than any of the great works of literature the culture produced.鈥�
鈥淏esides,鈥� he adds, 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a lot of fun.鈥�
Student writer Rebecca Schneidereit added her name to the waitlist after interviewing Prof. Enns for this story.