Antihero

Este ensayo analiza tanto el carácter monstruoso como las tendencias (anti) heroicas del personaje medieval Grendel a partir de dos textos principales: el poema épico Beowulf y la novela Grendel de John Gardner. El análisis busca, hasta cierto punto, revertir el rol del monstruo en la concepción de la épica tradicional, distinguiendo algunas de las cualidades más humanas en ambas representaciones literarias del personaje.  Entre estas, se explora la centralidad de la madre de Grendel y la perspectiva de la hazaña desde la percepción del monstruo

Abstract
What is moral? Since natural and empirical science emerged and shattered our old metaphysical way of understanding the world, our moral values are no longer decided for us by an absolute God, but something that we have to decide for ourselves. By which premises do we decide what makes an act good or bad? That is something that I have investigated in this research, along with a closer look at a character that often finds himself in the borderland between the two, the Antihero.

To answer these questions I have chosen to analyze the anime-series Death Note (Tetsurō Araki, 2006) and its main character Light Yagami. My research is conducted with a Semiotic method and based on social psychological theories. In the analysis I have chosen to focus on the social discourse that characterizes Death Note, an analysis of the main character and a semiotic study of the symbolism in some stills from the series. I have come to the conclusion that many aspects play a part when it comes to how we interpret good and evil. Some have a utilitarian way of looking at it, and decide the rightness or wrongness of an act based upon its consequences. From this perspective the act that brings the largest amount of happiness to the largest amount of people, is always morally justifiable. Others have a deontological way of thinking, and means that some actions can never be morally justified no matter what consequences that follow, because the act itself remains wrong. The complexity of morality rises, as one begins to understand that some killers can still be heroes, and out of the evildoers, very few consider themselves as evil but simply trying to do the right thing. Can there be evil without an evil person responsible for it?

Superheroines are paradoxical figures: they are empowering, and yet hypersexualized, strong and independent, and yet they fight for a society in which women are subordinate to men. “The female superhero originates in an act of criticism – a challenge to the masculinist world of superhero adventures”, writes Lillian S. Robinson in Wonder Women. However, at the same time, as superheroines, they should embody the values of the society they are protecting, that means they embody the status quo and confirm its stereotypes; but in a prevalent male chauvinistic society, where men are in power and women must fight for their rights, how can they protect this kind of status quo?
Thus, an ambiguous situation is created in which the status quo comes at once protected and questioned. In the superheroine “stereotype and innovation work together” concludes Robinson. Even if they are objectified, drawn with hypersexualized bodies, provocative, with revealing clothes, superwomen always keep an antiheroic element, disruptive, potentially revolutionary – even monstrous when it appears in villainesses.
“The ambitious woman and the heroine are strange monsters”, writes Simone De Beauvoir in Le Deuxieme Sexe. Like antiheroes, superheroines are dangerous threats to the status quo; they challenge our stereotype about women and superheroes. Their hyper-sexualization appears then as a way to control them, to exorcise their potential threat.
“In this modem era, the hero is a heroine; however, this 21st Century heroine still more closely resembles the antiheroic archetype”, writes Cynthia Lyles-Scott. Is it true? Are superwomen, today, still extremely antiheroic? How are they challenging our concepts of “hero” and “heroine”? I will try to answer these questions: through the analysis of characters like Wonder Woman, Jessica Jones, the new Ms. Marvel and Catwoman, and referring to Simone De Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre philosophy, I will focus on this antiheroic aspect of superwomen in comic books and its dialectic with the most normative and stereotypical ones.

The article undertakes a thorough review of F.M. Dostoyevsky’s novella “Notes from the Underground”
in the aspect of dialogism. Based on the analysis the author draws a conclusion that intellectual and emotional
peculiarities of the main character appear mainly in his speech. In this context the style of novella is affected
by the style of character-narrator’s speech. He enters into disputes with people, with the world and with
himself and very frequently uses ‘alien words’ that is resulted in the spirit of dialogism in the novella. Here the
‘alien word’ either influences the speech internally (in the beginning of the novella) or acts as an installment of
the reader and penetrates into the speech. So it is instructive to speak about narrator’s attention not only to the
‘alien word’, but also to the another person’s opinion or attitude because the condition of Underground person
(hatred for people, unsociability and distrust) implies on his attitude to the world

What makes an anti-hero a true anti-hero? Why is a mask so important for the superhero? Do heroines still wear high heels? These are some of the questions I try to answer in this interview published on A2 kulturní čtrnáctideník.
https://www.advojka.cz/archiv/2021/2

According to its creator, Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008–13) describes the moral corruption of a normal man, the conversion of Mr. Chips to Scarface. In ‘Full Measures’ (3.13), the moral and emotional complexity of the story is encapsulated in a seemingly incidental scene. We see Walter White in his living room, giving little Holly a bottle of milk. A close- up shows how the baby grabs at his glasses, and in this moment of paternal tenderness, the writers cunningly re-humanize  a character who just executed two thugs and minutes later ordered the death of his lab partner, as if to remind us that, at heart, ‘he’s really just a family man’ forced by circumstances to take matters into his own hands.  This important step in the metamorphosis of Walter is again mitigated by several factors: children, the family and everyday domestic life. Self-defence is, of course, the justification for these deaths, but the devotion of a father towards his little baby also enter into the moral and emotional equation that characterises Breaking Bad.

This article will be structured according to four sections: first, we will examine the rise of antiheroes over the past decade, exploring the ideological, industrial and narrative reasons that explain their success. Secondly, we will address how spectators engage morally and emotionally with the moving image, paying special attention to the specific nature of TV narrative. Thirdly, we will analyse the four main dramatic strategies that strengthen our identification with these morally conflicted characters: moral comparatism , the soothing power of family, acts of contrition and victimization. Lastly, we will propose a discussion over the ‘levels of engagement’ described by Smith and expanded by Vaage for television, in order to explore what the limits of sympathetic allegiance are, and how both the spectator and the narrative need to recover it cyclically.

The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul exemplify what Martin Shuster calls "new television. " Following 9/11, the playful irony that had defined shows such as Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Simpsons was gradually replaced with more morally ambiguous characters. Questions about one's moral standing operated at the forefront of such television, where previous idols of goodness on the right side of the law, such as Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks), Agents Mulder and Scully (The X-Files), and Buffy Summers, gave way to characters whose moral dubiousness and criminal behaviour utterly destabilized long-standing characteristics of television, asking viewers to sympathize with imperfect, often unscrupulous individuals. In this article, I discuss the moral trajectories of a number of key characters, including Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Jimmy McGill. White's and McGill's alter egos (Heisenberg and Saul Goodman, respectively) represent two very different moral compromises in a world defined by white-collar corruption, self-sabotage, and a questionable judicial system that simultaneously protects criminals as it reprimands them. These two characters in particular exemplify a radical break with traditionally morally upstanding characters and have taken audiences into a new frontier of morally ambiguous television that celebrates the complex world of the anti-hero. Résumé : The Sopranos, Breaking Bad et Better Call Saul illustrent ce que Martin Shuster appelle la « nouvelle télévision ». Après les attentats du 11 septembre, l'ironie espiègle qui avait défini des émissions comme Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer et The Simpsons a graduellement été remplacée par des personnages moralement plus ambigus. Des questions sur la réputation morale d'une personne étaient à l'avant-plan de telles émissions, où des idoles de bonté qui respectaient les lois, comme l'agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks), les agents Mulder et Scully (The X-Files) et Buffy Summers, ont fait place à des personnages dont la moralité douteuse et le comportement criminel ont complètement déstabilisé les caractéristiques de longue date de la télévision, demandant aux téléspectateurs de sympathiser avec des personnes imparfaites et souvent sans scrupules. Dans cet article, je discute des trajectoires morales de nombre de personnages clés, notamment Tony Soprano, Walter White et Jimmy McGill. Les alter ego de White et de McGill (Heisenberg et Saul Goodman, respectivement) représentent deux compromis moraux très différents dans un monde défini par la corruption de cols blancs, l'auto-sabotage et un système judiciaire douteux qui protège les criminels tout en les réprimandant. Ces deux personnages, en particulier, illustrent une séparation radicale des personnages traditionnellement moraux et ont amené les téléspectateurs

The proliferation of networks using narrowcasting for their original drama serials in the United States proved that protagonist types different from conventional heroes can appeal to their target audiences. While this success of anti-hero narratives in television serials starting from late 1990s raises the question of “quality television”, developing audience measurement models of networks make alternative narratives based on anti-heroes become widespread on the U.S. television industry. This thesis examines the development of the anti-hero on the U.S. television by focusing on the protagonists of pay-cable serials The Sopranos (1999-2007) and Dexter (2006-2013), basic cable serials The Shield (2002-2008) and Mad Men (2007-2015), and video-on-demand serials House of Cards (2013- ) and Hand of God (2014- ). In brief, this thesis argues that the use of anti-hero narratives in television is directly related to the narrowcasting strategy of networks and their target audience groups, shaping a template for growing networks and newly formed distribution services to enhance the brand of their corporations. In return, the anti-hero narratives push the boundaries of conventional hero in television with the protagonists becoming morally less tolerable and more complex, introducing diversity to television serials and paving the way even for mainstream broadcast networks to develop serials based on such protagonists.

Keywords: Anti-hero, Quality Television, Narrowcasting, Cable Television, Video-on-Demand, Serial

A década de 1980: O gênero Superhero experimenta a transformação mais significativa desde a criação do Superman em 1939. Começa uma nova era de super-heróis, na qual os personagens engraçados ficam mais escuros, violentos, brutais, mais e mais realistas, desencantados e adultos. Em Supergods, Grant Morrison vai chamar de Dark Age, quando o anti-herói toma o lugar do super-herói. A Idade das Trevas é considerada a maior revolução nos quadrinhos dos super-heróis - e ainda é possível ver muitos sinais de alerta durante a Era de Prata: um homem - O Homem - já havia começado a revolucionar o mundo dos super-heróis: Stan Lee. Stan criou dezenas de personagens: seus super-heróis são mais complexos e humanos do que nunca. Eles estão antecipando a Idade das Trevas, vinte anos antes. Graças a algumas das criações mais icônicas do The Man, este artigo mostrará a característica desses personagens que antecipam a revolução da Idade das Trevas.

The main thesis of this paper is that TV fiction, given its serialized nature, is better equipped to develop a “structure of sympathy” (Smith, 1995, 5) that allows us to identify with morally defective characters who commit crimes, who abuse and deceive; the type of person that would repel us in real life. The possibility of expanding a story over many hours allows, as will be discussed, an emotional structure to be constructed that “forces” us to sympathize with protagonists who are not only dramatically complex but also morally contradictory. In other words, what we will investigate is how this moral contradiction influences the narrative engine in many of the most influential contemporary TV series and we will unravel the emotional responses demanded of the viewer.

Resumen En este artículo se analiza la novela Cambises, del escritor Antonio Pérez Carmona, con base en los aspectos heroicos y antiheroicos del personaje principal, Cambises (Cipriano Castro). Este análisis se sustenta en teorías sobre el héroe y el antihéroe literario, al observar que dicho personaje tiene características de ambos. A nivel heroico se analiza su gesta militar y el énfasis nacionalista de su discurso político. En el plano antiheroico, se considera para el análisis la falsa concepción de héroe del personaje, el énfasis en aspectos sexuales por parte de Cambises, aspectos amorales relacionados al poder y el cuerpo del personaje como elemento de antiheroicidad.

This dissertation presents a study on the anti-hero of the novel genre that literary criticism ranks as dystopia, which will be developed through the analysis of six novels produced in the period of postmodernity: The running man (Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman, 1982), The handmaid's tale (Margaret Atwood, 1985), Do androids dream of eletric sheep? (Philip K. Dick, 1966), Neuromancer (William Gibson, 1984), Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood, 2003) and The road (Cormac McCarthy, 2006). We analyze the characteristics that qualify the works as dystopias and the role of anti-heroes, revealing how they relate to the persistence of the Prometheus myth and the postmodern condition of contemporary society. The work relies on Marxist and sociology theories and their relation to literary theory, performing two theoretical paths: one on hero and antihero, mainly based on studies of Flávio Kothe, Georg Lukács, Joseph Campbell and Martin Cezar Feijó, and the other on utopia and dystopia, based on studies of Alexandra Aldridge, Chad Walsh, Fredric Jameson, Keith Booker and Russel Jacoby, and their relationship with science fiction, posthuman and speculative fiction. Both paths lead to a reflection about the novelistic genre and the period of postmodernity, focusing on the concepts of waning of affect, by Fredric Jameson, and simulacra, by Jean Baudrillard.

Esta tese apresenta um estudo sobre o anti-herói romanesco no gênero que a crítica literária classifica como distopia, realizado através da análise de seis romances produzidos no período da pós-modernidade: O concorrente (The running man, Stephen King escrevendo como Richard Bachman, 1982), O conto da aia (The handmaid's tale, Margaret Atwood, 1985), Androides sonham com ovelhas elétricas? (Do androids dream of eletric sheep?, Philip K. Dick, 1966), Neuromancer (Neuromancer, William Gibson, 1984), Oryx e Crake (Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood, 2003) e A estrada (The road, Cormac McCarthy, 2006). A análise das narrativas examina os elementos que caracterizam as obras como distopias e o papel desempenhado pelos anti-heróis, revelando o modo como se relacionam com a permanência do mito de Prometeu e a condição pós-moderna da sociedade contemporânea. O trabalho apoia-se em teorias marxistas e sociológicas e sua relação com a teoria literária, realizando dois percursos teóricos, um sobre herói e anti-herói, baseado sobretudo nos estudos de Flávio Kothe, Georg Lukács, Joseph Campbell e Martin Cezar Feijó, e outro sobre utopia e distopia, com o auxílio de estudos de Alexandra Aldridge, Chad Walsh, Fredric Jameson, Keith Booker e Russel Jacoby, e sua relação com ficção científica, pós-humano e ficção especulativa. Os dois percursos levam a uma reflexão sobre o gênero romanesco e o período da pós-modernidade, considerada a partir dos conceitos de esmaecimento dos afetos, de Fredric Jameson, e simulacros, de Jean Baudrillard.

The text of this current translation comes from Samuel Krauss’ 1902 collection of manuscript transcriptions—originally found in Cod. Heb. 54 of the Vienna Israelite Theological Library, but denominated by Krauss as “Ms. Vindobona,” after the Latin name for Vienna. The manuscript was allegedly stolen from the Institute’s library by the Nazis, and subsequently disappeared—possibly being either destroyed or looted during the bombing of Berlin. The truth of this lost manuscript may never be known, but a few things are clear: despite its sometimes disturbing content, the text is a paradox, both vulgarly base and eloquently beautiful, epic satire, tragically antiheroic, and altogether exceptional literature worthy of appreciation by the humanities.

Based on:
Krauss, Samuel, ed. Das Leben Jesu: Nach Judischen Quellen. Berlin: S. Calvary,
1902.

Unhappy is the land that needs an anti-hero: a land in crisis, without a clear moral, without truths. The anti-hero embodies competing values; on the one hand, he is born of a crisis, on the other exasperates it, leads it to the extreme consequences.
During the 1980s these characters have their greatest success in superhero comics. The so-called Dark Age follows a profound crisis in American society, marked by the Vietnam War, the fear of nuclear conflict, but also by alternative cultural and social movements. A profound social transformation that inevitably brings with it a crisis of certainties, morals and values. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, together with Alan Moore’s Watchmen and V for Vendetta, are the graphic novels that more than any other represent this transformation.
Today, the western world faces a new crisis. Economic uncertainty, mass migrations, encounters and clashes with different cultures, terrorism: our worldview and our truths are wavering. Superhero universe mirrors all of these. Antiheroes become more and more numerous, and superheroes lose a clear definition. Marvel’s Civil War, saga directly linked to the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent PATRIOT Act, is probably the most emblematic example, an ideal beginning of this new Age.
The historical moment is comparable to the Dark Age. We are not just witnessing a new proliferation of anti-heroes: even superheroes and the way we perceive them are changing. The line between superhero and anti-hero becomes confused. The classic superheroes have begun to kill – the latest Batman and Superman films are emblematic. Superheroes’ relationship with the mask, with society, becomes much more problematic and "anti-heroic".
I will refer to Nietzschean concepts, such as the mask, the Apollonian and the Dionysian, the Übermensch, to distinguish the superhero and the anti-hero, in his relationship with the mask and the society, in his morality. Comparing Dark Age’s anti-heroes (Miller’s Batman, Rorschach, V) with contemporary films and comics like The Authority, Civil War, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight, I will show how our perception of anti-heroes and superheroes has changed.
https://www.uni-due.de/balc/superhero.php

This treatise deals with popular heroic archetypes. It differs from previous research, because by exploring narrative structures of (anti)heroic fiction, it shows that essential parallels exist in transgressive heroic myths in Japan and the West. This is important since in recent decades we register general decline of moral perfectionism in contemporary popular fiction at the expense of morally ambiguous but charismatic “transgressive heroes”. These characters are honorable and “culturally permitted” despite their antisocial inclinations, extralegal violence, or motivation by vendetta (e.g. Robin Hood versus Nezumi Kōzō, or Al Pacino in Godfather versus Kitano Takeshi in Brother). Various culture-specific heroic archetypes are analyzed (cowboy, samurai, yakuza, gangster, social bandit, a military hero) as they appear in popular mainstream narratives (predominantly film) of Japan, United States and Europe. I offer an interdisciplinary methodological framework. While scrutinizing the production/consumption patterns of transgressive heroes and their narratives, I conflate Japanese philology, media studies, and semiotics of film. Furthermore, this research represents a significant departure from the perspective of Friedrich Nietzsche (the dichotomy of Dionysian versus Apollonian ideal of conduct, and the notion of overman) in order to illuminate the fascination by heroes that are located beyond the conventional categories of good and evil. My analysis found that elements of transgression, disorder, and tragic heroism are inculcated into popular narratives in a “hegemonic” manner, i.e. via the transgressive hero. This facilitates social order and relaxes frustrations of everydayness by leaping beyond conventions that usually bind people in society.

KEYWORDS
hero theory, antihero, transgressive fiction, Japanese heroes, Western heroes, good versus evil

In his essay The Myth of Superman, Umberto Eco claims that in superhero comics nothing really changes: this is one of the most characteristic aspects of the superhero who is a status quo defender. By the end of each story, everything is back to normal. It’s 1964 when Eco wrote it, 20 years before one of the biggest revolutions in the superhero comic books history, the beginning of the Dark Age.
Graphic novels like Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight Returns revolutionize the concept of "superhero". But we are not talking about superheroes anymore, we are in front of antiheroes. Something else is different too: in these stories, something really happens, there is not a return to the status quo, but a transformation, sometime a revolution.
The difference between superhero and antihero means also a difference between the kind of story, between comic and graphic novel. I argue that the antihero narrative is linked to the graphic novel format, while superheroes go on with their infinite battle to defend the status quo on the pages of comic books.

https://internationalgraphicnovelandcomicsconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Conference-Booklet-june-17-updated.pdf

This talk deals with popular anti-heroic archetypes. It differs from previous research, because by exploring narrative structures of anti-heroic fiction, it shows that essential parallels exist in transgressive heroes of both East and West. This is important since in recent decades we register general decline of “moral perfectionism“ (term by Stanley Cavell) in popular fiction at the expense of morally ambiguous, violent, transgressive-but-enjoyable heroes. These characters are often honorable and “culturally permitted” despite their antisocial inclinations, extralegal violence, or motivation by vendetta (e.g. Robin Hood versus Nezumi Kōzō, or Al Pacino in Godfather versus Kitano Takeshi in Brother). Various culture-specific heroic archetypes are analyzed (cowboy, samurai, yakuza, gangster, social bandit) as they appear in popular mainstream narratives. I will further argue that rendering a certain violent/transgressive behavior as enjoyable is realized via three main narrative mechanisms: 1) positioning of the character, and the perspective from which a narrative is developed, 2) motivation of the character (i.e. set of adequate reasons he behaves as he does), and 3) charisma, appearance and aura of the character/actor.  Apart from offering an interdisciplinary methodological framework,  this research represents a significant departure from Friedrich Nietzsche (i.e. the dichotomy of Dionysian versus Apollonian ideal of conduct) in order to illuminate the fascination by heroes that are located beyond the conventional categories of good and evil.

KEYWORDS:
antihero theory, transgressive fiction, narratology, mediating violence, good versus evil, Nietzsche

My essay intends to explore the definition of the anti-hero and the narrative function of this figure. The concept of anti-hero clearly has a central role as a tool of both narrative structures and genres. Starting from the typology of the anti-hero and some literary examples I will analyse the many adaptations of this narrative device into different forms of expression like theatre, literature and cinema, and in particular, TV series.

The vision, my interpretation: Fidel Castro is a Sinner and Jesus is sympathetic with sinners, no doubts about it.Jesus would  send him not to Hell, but to Siberia, like Raskolnikov.  /Rodion is a fictional character, the protagonist of Dostoevsky’s Crime & Punishment. Raskolnikov believes in this theory of the extraordinary man, who is permitted to commit murder (or any other crime) in order to further a great cause. Fidel Castro, el Comandante, is a historical personality, the best well known Cuban politician. Perhaps, the most striking feature of Fidel Castro is his dual personality, like Raskolnikov himself. On the one hand, he is cold, able to commit any crime; on the other, he can be surprisingly charm and compassionate. Their characters are violently contradictory. Raskolnikov helps to reveal the inner workings of the world of the spirit, "preciso es las cuestiones de lo impreciso" and in this particular case, it helps me in order to define the ethics of violence in the political thought of Fidel Castro.

[You can download a Sample of the book in Palgrave website: https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137568847_sample.pdf]

This book examines the role of emotions in contemporary TV series. Over the past 20 years, TV fiction has become one of the most powerful and influential trends in popular culture. Shows such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Lost and The Wire have created a vigorous televisual landscape where innovations in narrative form, aesthetic engagement and ethical concerns have raised TV entertainment to new heights. What makes this volume unique is its interdisciplinary approach, as the series are analysed from the perspective of Television Studies, Literature, Sociology, Philosophy and Media Studies. Key concepts developed include the relation between moral emotion and character identification, how serial narrative builds into 'affective moments' as a distinctive mode of aesthetic experience, the politics of emotion in collective identities, the intersection of gender and emotions, and how popular genres such as terror films, the thriller and science fiction manage the 'emotional turn' that postmodernism has made visible.

Affective disposition theory explains well the process of enjoying hero narratives.  However, it is not particularly well suited to explain the appeal of narratives featuring antiheroes.  Recent exploratory scholarship on antiheroes suggests that character identification and the process of moral disengagement might be important factors in the enjoyment of such fare.  The current study builds on this initial work and adds another piece of evidence in support of these claims.  A sample of 101 self-identified fans and nonfans of the television series 24 viewed a condensed version of Season 1, providing evaluation of various protagonist perceptions, moral judgments, and emotional responses to the narrative, as well as overall enjoyment.  As expected, fans reported greater liking of the protagonist Jack Bauer and greater enjoyment.  But more importantly, regression analyses illuminated key differences between the groups in terms of the factors predicting enjoyment, providing a clearer picture of how we enjoy antihero narratives.

The 1980s: The Superhero genre experiments the most significant transformation since the creation of Superman in 1939. A new age of superheroes begins, in which the funny characters for children become darker, violent, brutal, more and more realistic, disenchanted and adult. In Supergods Grant Morrison will call it Dark Age, when the antihero takes the superhero’s place. The Dark Age is considered the biggest revolution in superheroes comics – and yet it is possible to see many warning signs during the Silver Age: a man – The Man – had already started to revolutionize the superheroes world: Stan Lee. Stan created dozens of characters: his superheroes are more complex and human than ever before. They are anticipating the Dark Age, twenty years before it. Thanks to some of the most iconic creations of The Man, this article will show the characteristic of these characters who anticipate the Dark Age’s revolution.

https://revistas.unilasalle.edu.br/index.php/Dialogo/article/view/5788

This paper explores the nature of inevitably pursuing dilemma experienced by self-reflective consciousness.  Awareness of  "self" can never be  free from the sense of "bad form" , as long as it adheres to the notion of "good form", only achieved as an individual separated from other pathetic and disgraceful incompletenesses. The cause of Captain Hook's melancholia, most dreadful curse cast on men.

Please refer to the page below.  May be, you can translate the text into your own language easier.
http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~mac-kuro/anti/9_hook.htm

Published: http://www.wiele-kropek.pl/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Herosi-hochsztaplerzy-hultaje-1.pdf
http://www.wiele-kropek.pl/publikacje/wydane/

Artykuł przedstawia kategorię antybohatera we współczesnej popkulturze na przykładzie Dracona Malfoya, postaci z serii książek Joanne Kathleen Rowling o Harrym
Potterze. Autorki przywołują teorie Małgorzaty Major, Katarzyny Szeremety,
Bernadetty Darskiej, opierające się na serialach telewizyjnych, a także koncepcję
literaturoznawczą Michała Januszkiewicza, uzupełniając je o psychologiczne ujęcie
proponowane przez Laurę Crysel, Petera K. Jonasona, Normana P. Li, Davida P. Schmitta
i Gregory’ego D. Webstera. Opisują oni cechy antybohaterów, które wiążą się z zaburzeniami należącymi do tzw. Czarnej Trójcy (the Dark Triad): narcyzmem, psychopatią
i makiawelizmem. Psychologiczna perspektywa pozwala ukonkretnić szerokie definicje
wspomnianych polskich badaczy.
słowa kluczowe: antybohater, narcyzm, psychopatia, makiawelizm, Draco Malfoy,
Harry Potter

Summary:
Draco Malfoy and the Dark Triad. Psychological Take on Antihero (pp. 11–22)
The article presents the category of antihero in modern popular culture illustrated by
the example of Draco Malfoy from J. K. Rowling’s series of books about Harry Potter.
Theories of Małgorzata Major, Katarzyna Szeremeta and Bernadetta Darska concerning TV series are presented, as well as the concept of Michał Januszkiewicz based on
literary theory. These ideas are supplemented by the psychological view proposed by
Laura Crysel, Peter K. Jonason, Norman P. Li, David P. Schmitt and Gregory D. Webster
who describe antiheroic traits connected to the Dark Triad of narcissism, psychopathy
and machiavellianism. Such perspective offers a way of specifying broad definitions
coined by the aforementioned Polish scholars.
keywords: antihero, dark triad, narcissism, psychopathy, machiavellianism,
Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter

The antihero embodies competing values; he is the symptom of a crisis, and he exasperates it. During the 1980s these characters have their greatest success in superhero comics. The so-called Dark Age follows a profound crisis in American society, marked by the Vietnam War, the fear of nuclear conflict, but also by alternative cultural and social movements. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, together with Alan Moore’s Watchmen, are the graphic novels that represent this transformation.Today, the western world faces a new crisis. Economic uncertainty, mass migrations, encounters and clashes with different cultures, terrorism, pandemics: our worldview and our truths are wavering. Superhero universe mirrors all of these. Antiheroes become more and more numerous, and superheroes lose a clear definition. Marvel’s Civil War is probably the most emblematic example.We are witnessing a new proliferation of antiheroes, and even superheroes are changing. The classic superheroes have begun to kill. Their relationship with the mask, with society, becomes much more problematic and "anti-heroic".I will refer to Nietzschean concepts, such as the mask to distinguish the superhero and the antihero. Comparing Dark Age’s antiheroes with contemporary films and comics I will show how our perception of “heroes” has changed.
Link: https://figshare.arts.ac.uk/articles/presentation/Marco_Favaro_-_What_if_Superheroes_kill_Evolution_of_Superheroes_and_Antiheroes_during_the_Post-heroic_Age/12562214

Dexter is a popular television show because it uses the narrative devices of classic cop shows while adding the twist of having a protagonist as an antihero who kills people. Accordingly, this study examines how audiences read the text of Dexter and offers unique implications for the field of entertainment studies. This study uses a mixed-method approach for a more holistic understanding of audiences. The findings show four dominant audience perspectives, each of which coincides with both a mode of audience engagement and a theory of moral reasoning. This study suggests that future research must look at audience interpretations to fully understand the dynamic between texts, audiences, and effects.

This paper explores the limited number of female antiheroes in AMC's critically acclaimed drama series. Using a feminist lens, the author argues that audiences have failed to embrace female characters on AMC as antiheroes, particularly when they are in romantic relationships with male antiheroes, for three primary reasons. First, female characters often challenge binary thinking, and thus, gender role stereotypes. Rather than exhibiting passive, yet nurturing characteristics, characteristics often associated with femininity and motherhood, female characters within the dataset frequently challenge their partners and exert their dominance. Second, writers often fail to fully develop female characters. The absence of their backstories (who they are and what they are thinking) makes it difficult for audiences to relate to and sympathize with these characters. Finally, within the dataset, female characters are rarely viewed as equals in the eyes of their male partners, and the audience takes cues from this treatment. When female characters are childless and/or respected by their male partners, they are more widely accepted as antiheroes. In this paper, the author examines some of the most famous criminal antihero partnerships in the top-rated AMC series over the last decade: Walter and Skyler White (Breaking Bad), Rick and Lori Grimes / Rick Grimes and Michonne (The Walking Dead), Don and Betty Draper (Mad Men), and Saul Goodman and Kim Wexler (Better Call Saul). Following this critique, the broader cultural implications of these representations are offered, particularly the disempowerment of women through motherhood.

What do have in common V for Vendetta’s fascistic dictatorship, the US on the verge of a nuclear conflict of Watchmen and The Last of Us’ zombie apocalypse? They are dystopias, even if of a different kind, catastrophic realities in which the society as we know it ceased to exist. We can consider them to explore the common characteristic of a dystopic world and analyse the hero’s role in these kinds of reality – if we can still talk about heroes, of course.  In fact, both V created by Alan Moore and Joel and Ellie created by Naughty Dog have strong heroic qualities, but they are also forced to decisions and actions that we would define “evil” in a normal situation. Typical of the antiheroic narrative, both universes put us in front of impossible moral choices.
V for Vendetta and Watchmen’s choice is not random: Moore’s graphic novels are two of the best examples of (super)hero deconstruction. Through these works, it is possible to define the concept of “hero” and his role inside a dystopia. Marco Arnaudo writes that “in a world on the verge of collapse, scene of endless conflicts, massacres, genocides, threatened by ecological catastrophes with apocalyptic consequences, superheroes [...] [represent] a gross lie” (182). Is it true? If society collapsed and there is nothing left to save, what role does the hero have? Is it possible to be a hero in a condemned world?
The answers to those questions will be confronted with the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us. Inside Joel and Ellie’s America, the player is also forced to immoral actions to survive and go on in the game. However, to what end if there is nothing left to save?
In order to survive a dystopia, the player is forced to adopt a new moral compass and confront himself with different and extreme worldviews. How long can we stare into the abyss without becoming monsters ourselves? Which actions can be justified to save humanity? Where can we trace a line between justice and revenge? These questions lead this analysis, which finds its philosophical bases, especially on Albert Camus’ works.

TV series such as The Sopranos and Breaking Bad with their antihero protagonists (Tony Soprano and Walter White) have brought narrative, aesthetic and thematic innovations, broadening the cinematographic horizon beyond standards that, until recently, were more or less homogeneous. In this study, it is argued that such narratives and their antiheroes conform allegories to the fortune of contemporary morality — drawn by analysts such as Lipovetsky (1994) and Bauman (1997). This material contrasts with the singular typology of the American anti-hero of the literary fictional romances of the 1960s, developed by Simmons (2008). If this anti-hero emerged in a countercultural context and had an important role of social and political criticism, his postmodern double is antagonistic, extolling, in turn, aspects dictated by the mainstream in contemporary times, such as individualism, consumerism and the weakening of moral responsibility. From a theoretical survey and the comparative analysis of the communicational products and the antiheroes inserted here, it is observed that these, as well as the conflicts, polemics, representations and provocations that evoke, have potency, by allowing the audience to dialogue and philosophical exercise on the issues they develop.

ÖZ: Sevgi Soysal'ın bazı eleştirmenlerce öykü kitabı bazı eleştirmenlerce öyküler toplamı ve kısa roman olarak değerlendirilen Tante Rosa isimli eseri, 1966-68 yılları arasında seri yazılar hâlinde Dost dergisinde yayımlanır. Yazar, birbiriyle ilintili on dört öyküden oluşan kitabın kahramanı Tante Rosa'yı, teyzesi Rosel'in kişiliğinden yola çıkarak yaratmıştır. Bu eser, kanaatimizce alışılmış olandan farklı bir "bildungsroman"dır. Alman edebiyatının bir roman çeşidi olan ve "oluşum" romanı olarak adlandırabileceğimiz bildungsroman, kahramanın oluşumuna etkisi olan maddi ve manevi unsurları, geçirdiği aşamaları, sonunda ulaştığı ideal durumu/kişiliği konu edinir. Romanın merkezinde gelişim ya da oluşum eksenli bir öykü vardır. Tante Rosa'da ise yazar, sıra dışı bir kişiliğe sahip olan Rosa'nın başarısızlıklarla dolu hayatını ele alır, olgunlaşma bu eserde bir anlamda tersine işler. Bildungsromanda kahramanın yaşadığı topluma ve onun kurallarına uyum sağlaması beklenirken, yaşadığı topluma ayak uyduramayan Rosa, toplumun bir parçası olmaktan ziyade, toplumu hayatı boyunca karşısına almıştır. Soysal'ın eserinde de bir karakterin hayat çizgisi boyunca geçirdiği zincirleme aşamalar söz konusudur; ancak bu aşamalar ve yaşanan olumlu/olumsuz deneyimlerin Rosa'yı ideal bir noktaya taşıması umulurken; sürekli "ideal" kavramını gerileten, kimi zaman yıkan ve karşıtı olan renkli bir tablo sunulur. Rosa, beklenen ideal noktasına ulaşamadığı gibi, bu roman türünü belirleyen "tamamlanmış kişilik", "yetişkin ve hayatın anlamını kavramış insan tipi"ne de dönüşemez. Ona bir "anti-kahraman" demek çok yanlış olmaz. Üstelik her ne kadar romanın merkezinde bir "gelişim öyküsü" bulunsa da bu alışılmış kalıplara uygun şekilde kurgulanmamıştır. Bu eseri, bir anlamda bir parodi ya da tersine "bildungsroman" olarak görmek mümkündür. Bahsi geçen varsayımlardan hareket edilerek bu yazıda, Sevgi Soysal'ın Tante Rosa isimli eserinin tersine bir bildungsroman örneği olarak okunabilirliğinin imkânları tartışılacaktır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Sevgi Soysal, Tante Rosa, Bildungsroman, Anti-kahraman.
ABSTRACT: Sevgi Soysal's Tante Rosa which is regarded as a collection of stories by some critics and is considered a short novel by the others has been published serially in Dost magazine (1966-68). Writer created Rosa who based on her aunt Rosa and is antagonist of her book which consists of fourteen related stories. According to our opinion, this work is a kind of bildungsroman differentiating from usual bildungsromans. It is a genre firstly appeared in German literature and we name it also "development novel" dealing with subjects such as material and spiritual elements which contribute to antagonist's development, the stages which have been experinced by him/her and the ideal personality he/she has eventually reached. At the centre of the novel, there is a story based upon a development process. Writer handles Rosa who has an unusual personality and a life with full of failure in this novel and the process of turning into an adult in Tante Rosa occurs in contrast to similar novels. While the character is expected to obey the society and its rules in bildungsromans, Rosa has difficulty in adapting herself to society and defies it instead of being a part of it. In the work of Soysal the consecutive events which have been experienced by a person in his/her whole life is treated but these events and negative/positive experiences do not carry to him/her an ideal point. On the contrary Rosa always attacks the ideal concept and sometimes subverts it with colorful scenes.  Rosa never reaches an ideal point and turns into a “completed personality”, an “adult who found the meaning of life.”  It would not be wrong to name her as an anti-hero. Moreover, although the novel includes a “development story” it hasn’t been fictionalized in accord with the typical features of genre. This work may be regarded as a parody or a kind of “anti-bildungsroman”. In this article, possibilities of how Sevgi Soysal’s Tante Rosa could be read as an “anti-bildungsroman” will be discussed on the basis of these assumptions.
Key Words: Sevgi Soysal, Tante Rosa, Bildungsroman, Anti-hero.

Streszczenie Celem rozprawy doktorskiej jest rekonstrukcja obrazu postaci dziecka z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną i z zaburzeniami ze spektrum autyzmu na drodze szczegółowej analizy i interpretacji utworów literackich z uwzględnieniem zabiegów estetycznych i strategii narracyjnych oraz określenie funkcji tego obrazu w literaturze i kulturze. Podstawą badań są różnorodzajowe i różnogatunkowe formy literackie. W pierwszym rozdziale autorka odniosła się do stanu badań nad obrazem dziecka niepełnosprawnego w literaturze z uwzględnieniem problematyki disability studies. W kolejnych rozdziałach autorka podjęła próbę interpretacji motywu dziecka fada, postaci potworka i czarownicy jako symbolicznych przedstawień bohatera z niepełnosprawnością. Ważnym aspektem tego zagadnienia jest problematyka demonizacji inności, ujęcia obcości w perspektywie sacrum i profanum. Analizie w kontekście badań genderowych został poddany również motyw "wiecznego dziecka" w odniesieniu do dorosłych osób niepełnosprawnych, postaci pozbawionych sfery płciowej i seksualnej, figur aseksualnych, outsiderów, antybohaterów. Rozprawa dotyczy również sposobu prezentacji postaci dzieci nie w pełni sprawnych w literaturze dziecięcej, które często odgrywają specjalną rolę w relacji rodzinnej. Autorka podjęła próbę interpretacji motywów "wykluczonych geniuszy" i "mądrych idiotów", bohaterów z ogromnym potencjałem, skrywających tajemnicę, którzy muszą sprostać wykluczeniu, by wywalczyć własne miejsce w świecie. Ich pojawienie zawsze zmienia stan rzeczy-obnaża prawdę, ukazuje niezwykłość niepełnosprawności. W rozdziale poświęconym literaturze faktu analizie poddano narracje, które dają niepełnosprawnym możliwość mówienia o swojej odmienności i tożsamości, walczenia o przyznanie prawa do różnienia się, dlatego niezbędnym okazało się odwołanie do m. in. teorii kulturowych i teorii dyskursu. Analizując zebrany materiał badawczy, można dojść do wniosku, że w literaturze pięknej nie brak postaci potworków, odmieńców, outsiderów i antybohaterów jako symbolicznych przedstawień postaci z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną lub z zaburzeniami ze spektrum autyzmu. Należy jednak zaznaczyć, że literatura współczesna przedstawia niepełnosprawność jako elastyczny konstrukt kulturowy, w utworach pojawiają się postacie "zwyklaków", "normalsów", a społeczny model niepełnosprawności dominuje od XX wieku. 237

Superheroes do not change the world. Their mission is to protect society and its people from an “evil” threat and to preserve and restore a status quo that is overall “good”. However, what happens if there are no innocents to protect? If society is not “good” but corrupt, even dystopic? Is it possible to be heroes in a dystopic world? Can the superhero save humanity from itself?
Superhero narrative gives us numerous examples of dystopic realities in film, comics, and series: zombie apocalypses like DCeased or Marvel Zombies, fascistic or socialistic totalitarianism like V for Vendetta or Superman Red Son, but also “utopic” dystopias like the worlds of WandaVision or House of M created by Scarlet Witch.
How are these worlds connected? What have the V for Vendetta’s fascistic dictatorship and the small and perfect Town of Westview in common? They are dystopias, even if of a different kind, catastrophic realities in which the society as we know it ceased to exist. We can consider them to explore the common characteristic of a dystopic world and analyse the hero’s role in these kinds of reality – if we can still talk about heroes, of course.  In fact, V of Moore, the socialist Superman of Millar and Scarlet Witch have heroics qualities, but they are also forced to take decisions and actions that we define as “evil”. Typical of the antiheroic narrative, these universes put us in front of impossible moral choices.
Can a superhero impose a utopia, saving men from themselves? If society collapsed and there is nothing left to save, what role does the hero have? Is it possible to be a hero in a condemned world? To survive a dystopia, the superhero (and the reader) must adopt a new moral compass and confront himself with different and extreme worldviews. How long can he stare into the abyss without becoming a monster himself? Which actions can be justified to save humanity? Where can we trace a line between justice and revenge? These questions lead this analysis, which finds its philosophical bases, especially but not only, on Albert Camus’ work. Conference Link: https://www.uni-due.de/balc/superhero_five.php

Today superheroes have a huge success in movies and television series, but originally the superhero genre is born on the pages of comics. What are the comic’s characteristics that helped the superhero genre to obtain so much success? How are these characteristics linked to the aspects that define this genre? How a different approach to the artistic potentialities of comics can change the perception we have of superhero, villains and antihero? These are the questions I will try to answer with this work. I analyse different comic media’s aspects like the colour, the symbolism, the “gutter” (the space between the panels) and the time of comic and graphic novels.
I will refer to Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, Reading comics by Wolk Douglas and to Umberto Eco’s essay The Myth of Superman. I argue that comics and graphic novels have spurred the success of the superhero not only for economic reasons but mostly because of their peculiar characteristics. I show how a different use of the potential offered by this medium modifies the characters themselves, sometimes breaking down the barriers that divide hero, villain and antihero.