Batman and the Shadows of Modernity

Rafael Carrión-Arias is a professor of Philosophy and Literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). He is also a specialist in cinema and comics. He has been a visiting researcher at numerous internationally renowned research institutions (Stanford University, UCLA, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Cape Town, Moscow Lomonosov University, Taras Shevchenko Universitet Kyiv, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, etc.). He has collaborated with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences on the critical edition in German of the complete works of Marx and Engels (MEGA II) and has been a research associate at the Marc-Bloch Center (CNRS/Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). He has been a regular contributor to the M. Gorki Institute of International Literature of the Moscow Academy of Sciences. He has translated Nietzsche into Spanish.

• AcknowledgmentsForewordIntroductionChapter 1: Batman and the Superhero Comics: A Contribution to the Hermeneutics of the GenreThe Object of the AnalysisOn Superheroes and IdeologiesThe Batman Canon and the Category of GenreThe Method of AnalysisTowards the Specificity of the ObjectHow is Knowledge Possible in the Case of Comic Book Hermeneutics?Chapter 2: Gotham and the Soul of the Contemporary CityBatman: from the City to the PanelGotham City, the Crime and the Identity: “I Shall Become a Bat”Elseworlds: Batman in MoscowChapter 3: Batman and “the Political”: Tonight, He is the LawConstitutionalist State and State of ExceptionAction and Inequality: Thomas Hobbes and the Founding of Modern StateCrisis, Power, and Decisionism: Carl Schmitt and the Suspension of LawSuperheroes and American ExceptionalismLook! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Fascism!Political Technologies of the Body: Reactionarism and its MethodsPunishment and Political Body Utilitarianism and Power-knowledge“Whodunit?”: Batman, Holmes, and the Hermeneutics of DetectionInduction and HyperspecializationHyperspecialization and DisciplineBatman and the Panopticon: Surveillance and PunishmentBetween Biopolitics and Sovereignty: The Superhero and GovernanceChapter 4: The Savior and NihilismAbout NihilismI. S. Turgenev: Fathers and Sons and the Generational Break F. M. Dostoevsky: Nihilism as SplitF. Nietzsche: Nihilism as the Death of ReferencesModern Hero as a TerroristThe Knight-errant vs. the Displacement of the Modern EpistemeFrom Dostoevsky to BatmanAvengers: Resentment and ReactionExcursus: Batman Gothic (Variations on a Romantic Theme)Chapter 5: On Villains and SupermenThe “Last Man” vs. the “Meaning/Sense of Earth”The Supervillain AffairIn the Gallery of MirrorsJoker: “This is my Card”Madness and OthernessTowards a Genealogy of MadnessFrom the Tragic to the Classical Experience of MadnessThe Medicalization of MadnessThe Doctor, the Vigilante, and the AsylumVisions of MadnessDiderot’s Rameau’s Nephew: Towards a Typology of the UndergroundDostoevsky’s Underground Man: The Great ResistanceThe Joker, the Camel and the Lion“Let’s Put a Smile on that Face”: Towards a Philosophy of the CarnivalChapter 6: Joker and the Carnival of LaughterJoker and “Grotesque Realism”The Polyphonic NovelDiscourse in the ComicAn Exercise in Polyphonic Reading in the Superheroic Comic-book (I): Arkham Asylum. A Serious House on Serious EarthAn Exercise in Polyphonic Reading in the Superheroic Comic-book (II): Luthor… You Are Driving Me Sane

"[...] Batman and the Shadows of Modernity offers a significant contribution to both superhero studies and broader philosophical discourse. By positioning Batman as a figure intertwined with the moral uncertainties and existential struggles of the modern world, Carrión-Arias transcends typical superhero analysis and opens up new avenues for understanding the character’s cultural relevance. This book not only deepens our appreciation for Batman as a reflection of modern nihilism but also lays the groundwork for future scholarship on how superheroes function as ideological symbols in an era marked by fragmentation and crisis. As both a cultural critique and a philosophical treatise, Batman and the Shadows of Modernity stands as an essential text for scholars, philosophers, and comic book enthusiasts alike, one that will likely shape future discussions on the intersection of power, identity, and morality in the superhero genre."Felipe Rodolfo Hendriksen, International Journal of Comic Art“The book seeks to trace a genealogy around the conception of the modern hero, in clear relation to a nihilistic reading of it, trying to locate in it the figure of Batman as the foundational superhero of modern heroism. To do so, he tries to analyze the elements that nurture the character and that elevate him to this category in a masterful way [...].”Andrea Hormaechea Ocaña, CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic [“[E]l libro busca trazar una genealogía en torno a la concepción de héroe moderno, en clara relación con una lectura nihilista del mismo, tratando de ubicar en ella a la figura de Batman como superhéroe fundacional de la heroicidad moderna. Para ello, trata de analizar los elementos que nutren al personaje y que lo elevan a esta categoría de forma magistral […].”Andrea Hormaechea Ocaña, CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic]