A colleague asked me what to call the genre of superhero stories that seem to incorporate realism or a sense of populism. He was specifically referring to the Marvels line, but I think the name, if we can come up with one, would apply more broadly, as well. So, here begineth a long-winded ramble about genre theory:
To be honest, I hadn't put much thought into a name, and I haven't actually read Marvels. Structurally, it is part of a larger movement that strategically injects fantastic, often 'gutter,' genres (space opera, superheroes, pulp fantasy, etc) with bits of realism.
I've jokingly been calling this 'realistique' for a few months. Sounds like an ad campaign, "It's not realis, and it's not realistic. It's realistique! Fun for the whole family!" Kinda, almost, sorta real. Total fantasty with a splash of reality.
I don't want to call this 'pseudo-realism' because that implies that it's, somehow, 'not quite' realism. As if it was trying to be, but failed.
I also don't want to get sucked into the 'magic realism' label, not because I don't love magic realism, but because it has a seperate history that I don't think I'd want to invoke in this context.
People have been calling the mid-80s, political/adult comics 'revisionist' for quite some time, but that's not a usefully descriptive title.
The interesting thing about, say, Supreme Power or BSG (Battlestar Galactica) is that they manage to handle both the psychological drama and powerful political and social commentary that people expect from period films or historical fiction, for example, but they also do the large-scale iconic, metaphorical, and often 'cosmic' work of mythology or really good sci-fi/fantasy. The psychological depth in LotR is nothing to write home about, but the implications on a grand scale are phenomenal. BSG does both. Perhaps there's a name that combines that sense of combination of small- and large-scale themes? Like, "iconic realism" or "realist myth"?
Suggestions or thoughts on this would be great!
Posted by orion at September 18, 2005 11:49 AM | TrackBack