Motifs and motives in mutation. Implications of the human-mutant from comics to the screen
(2013) XXe Congrès de l’Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée — Location: Université de Paris-Sorbonne (19.July.2013)
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- Abstract
- Comics and graphic novels and their subsequent feature films know a variety of protagonists graced with extraordinary powers but also doomed to an outsider status due to their abnormality. Precisely this characteristic of aberration, of not conforming to the norm, renders such protagonists – in spite of their extraordinariness - not only easy to relate to but also a source of inspiration; the unusualness singled out by society as abnormal can be transformed into a gift for the good of all. Moreover, regardless of physical or psychic divergence, such protagonists are often the most human characters in the story (e.g. Superman). This is due to the very thematization of difference. Otherness or alienation experienced in the real world is therefore transposed to unusual qualities in the diegetic world and consequently rendered acceptable. My paper will explore the nature and implications of human mutations by concentrating on Enki Bilal’s Immortel (ad vitam) (2004), the roughly contemporaneous X-Men and Hell Boy movies (since 2000) along with their corresponding comics. In doing so, the ways in which the leading characters from these films contend with the paradigm of the typical (super)hero will also be dealt with. In addition the implications of media on print and moving image motifs will be brought out. The paper will try to illustrate uses for inventoring and analyzing motifs recurrent across media and genres, namely that regarding motifs as constituents of particular imaginaries can aid in: (a) deducing the broad anthropological significance of certain images and concepts, and (b) working out the transformative and narratological effects of media on similar content.
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Ahmed, M. (2013). Motifs and motives in mutation. Implications of the human-mutant from comics to the screen. XXe Congrès de l’Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée, Université de Paris-Sorbonne. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/203645