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Hinds Jr., Harold E. "Chanoc: Adventure and Slapstick on Mexico's Southeast Coast." Journal of Popular Culture 14. (1980): 424–36. Added by: joachim (7/20/09, 1:28 AM) Last edited by: joachim (9/25/20, 2:51 PM) |
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| Resource type: Journal Article Language: en: English Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1111/j.0022-3840.1980.1403_424.x BibTeX citation key: HindsJr1980 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: "Chanoc", Adventure comics, Latin America, Mexico, Politics, Sociology Creators: Hinds Jr. Collection: Journal of Popular Culture |
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The comic book may be more popular in Mexico than in any other Latin American country. In this essay, Harold Hinds focuses on Chanoc, which was a best seller in Mexico during its peak years from 1960 to 1971. Hinds gives much interesting information on the evolution of the comic book and on its creators, sales, and readership. He speculates that its decline was due to a number of factors, including the degeneration of one of its main characters, Tsekub, into a mere clown, the inaccessibility of its increasingly “slangy” language, and its tendency towards cuteness rather than meaningful satire. He then examines the main characters. Chanoc is a kind of highly moral Tarzan-figure who protects the defenseless against villainous exploiters. Tsekub, Chanoc's sidekick and anthithesis, is an old man with a young spirit whose zest for life provides much comedy. Hinds points out that in addition to adventure and humor, Chanoc's main components, the comic book also deals with foreign, particularly US., interference in Mexico and elsewhere. He also considers a variety of ways in which Chanoc reflects, at times quite subtly, Mexican culture and society; e.g., aspects of regionalism, nationalism, mestizo character, machismo, and modernization are briefly explored.
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