Arktische Superhelden: Strukturelle Parodie in Simon Schwartz’ Packeis

• Published in: Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies
• Main Author: Haenlein, Felix
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 2020
• Subjects: Literature and Literary Theory; Cultural Studies; North Pole; Henson; Arktis*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/seminar.56.3-4.03; https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/seminar.56.3-4.03

This close reading of Packeis demonstrates how the graphic novel does not attempt to correct the injustices that occurred to North Pole researcher Matthew Henson simply by retelling his version of the story. Instead, the comic structurally parodies the processes of those who have informed the discourse so far. Racism is thereby revealed as a strategy for discourse appropriation. Moreover, in addition to the parodying of colonialism through the capturing of the white areas of the comic’s page, the comic also reflects its own media conditions, while at the same time marking them as the conditions for expedition reports. This essay thereby exposes the pure white regions as areas that have always already been written on and are constructed in the first place. Finally, this essay shows how the staging of national heroes connected to Peary’s project is reflected in Packeis’ reference to the figure of the superhero, again making it clear that this performance has always been based on artificial processes.