The hero’s beautiful death: body, cancer and medicalization in comics’ narratives

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29397/reciis.v15i1.1998

Keywords:

Comics, Medicalization, Mediatization, Body, Cancer.

Abstract

In this article, we study the fabrication of the social imaginary about cancer represented in superhero comics. The goal is to discuss the emergence of cancer in media culture. It raises the question of the medical imperative as a producer of knowledge and practices of body control in fictional narratives and in the hero’s tragedy. The methodological approach lies in the study of the trajectory of two comic characters from the US Marvel Comics Publishing House: Mighty Thor and Captain Marvel. We also approach the influence of the medical model of thought in western societies. To this end, we use a framework of communication and readings in the fields of sociology and anthropology. Through documentary research and reading of spectacular narratives about the hero and cancer, we relate issues involving myths, the imaginary, the body and emotions.

Author Biographies

Marcos Fábio Medeiros Vieira, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Câncer José Alencar Gomes da Silva. Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Mestrado em Comunicação pela Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

Denise da Costa Oliveira Siqueira, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Doutorado em Ciências da Comunicação pela Universidade de São Paulo.

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Published

2021-03-22

How to Cite

Vieira, M. F. M., & Siqueira, D. da C. O. (2021). The hero’s beautiful death: body, cancer and medicalization in comics’ narratives. Revista Eletrônica De Comunicação, Informação & Inovação Em Saúde, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.29397/reciis.v15i1.1998

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2021): Dossiê Comunicação, Saúde e Crises Globais: parte 2

Section

Original articles

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