Aboriginality and the Arctic North in Canadian Nationalist Superhero Comics, 1940-2004

• Main Authors: Dittmer, J, Larsen, S
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Arctic; First Nations
• Online Access: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/85823/

The article explores the construction of aboriginality and the Arctic North in the constitution of Canadian identity through an analysis of Canadian nationalist superhero comics from World War II until 2004. Superheroes belong to a particular genre of literature and film in which society is defended by a hero who masks his or her real identity behind a mythic costumed exterior, and who has above-average skills and powers. The discourse analysis presented in this paper derives from post structural work that examines national identity as a spatial construction. The production of a national social space hinges on the discursive differentiation and positioning of self and other. The North has also been seen as an archetypically indigenous and aboriginal place. The terms indigenous, aboriginal, First Nations, and Native are anchored in specific twentieth-century political developments concerning the notion of sovereignty.