LEADER 04442nam 22005655 450 001 9911016071903321 005 20250721130903.0 010 $a3-031-93126-2 024 7 $a10.1007/978-3-031-93126-0 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC32227085 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL32227085 035 $a(CKB)39694543200041 035 $a(DE-He213)978-3-031-93126-0 035 $a(EXLCZ)9939694543200041 100 $a20250721d2025 u| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aNarratives of Nostalgia and Repair in American Comics and Literature $e(Dis)abling Exceptionalism /$fby Aanchal Vij 205 $a1st ed. 2025. 210 1$aCham :$cSpringer Nature Switzerland :$cImprint: Palgrave Macmillan,$d2025. 215 $a1 online resource (274 pages) 311 08$a3-031-93125-4 330 $aAanchal Vij?s Narratives of Nostalgia and Repair in American Comics and Literature is an original and ambitious study that weaves together trauma theory, disability studies, and cultural critique to interrogate the entanglements of nostalgia and American exceptionalism in multimodal and literary works. Vij offers fresh readings of major works (from Maus to Black Panther), discussing how counterfactual histories and superhero narratives engage issues of race and national mythology. The book?s intellectual scope, its sophisticated comparative approach, and its commitment to focusing on marginalized voices make it a very valuable contribution to contemporary comics and literary scholarship ?Giorgio Busi Rizzi,Universiteit Gent,Belgium Through a study of both novels and comic books of 20th and 21st century, this book claims that it is not possible to create any narrative of exceptionalism without also manufacturing a sense of nostalgia for a past that may or may not have existed. Acts of personal or historical repair are central to such nostalgia and symptomatic of a desire to both escape and confront difficult pasts. The myth of American exceptionalism is one such narrative of nostalgia that, in its conception of damage and acts of ?repair,? disables histories. Through works by Michael Chabon, Art Spiegelman, Philip Roth, Alan Moore, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, this book reframes the idea of heroism and locates it outside of the hegemonic narrative of American exceptionalism. This book puts comics studies and literature in dialogue with disability studies to argue that an ?able? history, just like an ?able body,? is a myth. The figure of the superhero, or the trope of heroism, is central to the moments of historical repair as well as the identity politics of who repairs the damage. The corpus illustrates how American escapism and counterfactual conception of a nation?s past can prolong the trauma of beleaguered communities, cultures, bodies, and histories. This book reveals how prostheticising one version of history can amputate another; there is no narrative of exceptionalism that is also not simultaneously a narrative of disability. Dr Aanchal Vij completed her PhD in contemporary American literature and graphic narratives from the University of Sussex, UK. Her current research explores the relationship between disability, race, and comics. Her work has appeared in Critical Essays on BoJack Horseman (2023) and Comics and Catharsis: Exploring Graphic Narratives of Trauma and Healing (2025). She currently works as an Editor at Bloomsbury Academic on the Drama and Literary Studies list. . 606 $aComic books, strips, etc$xInfluence on mass media 606 $aPopular culture 606 $aAmerica$xLiteratures 606 $aComics Studies 606 $aPopular Culture 606 $aLiterature and Disability Studies 606 $aNorth American Literature 615 0$aComic books, strips, etc.$xInfluence on mass media. 615 0$aPopular culture. 615 0$aAmerica$xLiteratures. 615 14$aComics Studies. 615 24$aPopular Culture. 615 24$aLiterature and Disability Studies. 615 24$aNorth American Literature. 676 $a306.488 676 $a741.5 700 $aVij$b Aanchal$01834451 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9911016071903321 996 $aNarratives of Nostalgia and Repair in American Comics and Literature$94409942 997 $aUNINA