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Hunter, Jack. "The Dark Knight Rises: Shamanic transformations in gotham city." The Paranormal and Popular Culture. A Postmodern Religious Landscape. Eds. John W. Morehead and Darryl Caterine. London, New York: Routledge, 2019. 55–67. Added by: joachim (12/02/2026, 10:48) Last edited by: joachim (12/02/2026, 11:10) |
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| Resource type: Book Chapter Language: en: English Published ID no. (ISBN etc.): 9781138738577 BibTeX citation key: Hunter2019 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: "Batman", Adaptation, Film adaptation, Myth, Religion, Superhero, USA Creators: Caterine, Hunter, Morehead Publisher: Routledge (London, New York) Collection: The Paranormal and Popular Culture. A Postmodern Religious Landscape |
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This chapter explores the many facets of the Batman mythos as they overlap with one of the oldest and most enigmatic "super-stories" of them all - the near-universal narrative of shamanism. As we will explore, Batman's unique kind of "dark power" is reflective of a psychospiritual transformation encoded in the cross-cultural beliefs, practices, and experiences of the world's shamanic traditions. In taking this approach, we can better understand why, in spite of his all-too-humanness, Batman is no less a paranormal hero than Superman or the X-Men. This chapter explores the many facets of the Batman mythos as they overlap with one of the oldest and most enigmatic "super-stories" of them all, the near-universal narrative of shamanism. It examines Batman's unique kind of "dark power" is reflective of a psychospiritual transformation encoded in the cross-cultural beliefs, practices, and experiences of the world's shamanic traditions. It is important to emphasize at the outset that shamanism is not a single monolithic entity but rather a general, Western anthropological label frequently applied to a wide-ranging complex of beliefs and practices found throughout many of the world's cultures. Shamans very often perform a variety of other important roles in society, including those of healer, ceremonial leader, repository of oral history, entertainer, psychopomp, spiritual protector, and diviner. The spiritual archetype that most fittingly describes the Batman mythos is the trickster, a symbol that encompasses all the contradictions and opposing forces bound up in the process of personal transformation.
Added by: joachim Last edited by: joachim |