The Serial Politics of Pop Aesthetics: Superhero Comics and Science Fiction Novels (A01)

• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature) ; European and American Literary and Cultural Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438577023

The TP examines the evaluative communication in and around the serial evolution of the popu-lar series Captain America and Perry Rhodan. It analyzes the consequences of problematic popu-larity and assesses the implications of the unequal distribution of attention (from very popular to completely unnoted) in digital fan forums for the aesthetic and political evaluation and thus for the type of continuation of the series. Not only how the texts are read, but also which forms and narrative procedures in these texts enable such readings is at the forefront of the investigation.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1472: Transformations of the Popular
• Applicant Institution: Universität Siegen
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Daniel Stein; Professor Dr. Niels Werber