The Superhero Culture in Mexico and the United States: Shared Histories and Public Imaginaries

According to historian Stephen J.C. Andes, America’s first superhero was (El) Zorro, who appeared for the first time on the cinema screen in 1919. The character of Zorro was inspired by Joaquin Murrieta, whose legend is still alive as a social bandit who championed Mexican American causes against racism and humiliations by Anglo-American colonizers in California. Stories like this can trace the cultural paths of the superhero culture in the public histories of Mexico and the U.S. This presentation proposes to examine different case studies of popular icons as representations of people’s aspirations, fears, and hopes and thereby showcase public histories about fantasy-reality characters that nurtured collective imaginaries both in Mexico and the U.S., from the 19th century to the present. The intertwined histories of these cultural icons, widely known and represented as superheroes, usually embodied popular notions of justice, patriotism, solidarity, and protection; as such, they reflect social parameters of identity, class, race, education, and gender. This presentation will address the links between these characters’ stories and the historical conditions in which they were created. By discussing specialized readings and analyzing sources of popular culture such as music, film, comics, and television shows, this presentation will touch on the formation of collective cultural ethos and attempt to explain some of the intricate social dynamics and historical changes that gave Mexico and the United States a complex shared identity of heroism.