The introductory part of the work has focused on some aspects of mass communication and popular culture. Mass communication has been described as a special kind of communication, an endless process, of constant exchange of messages. It involves distinctive operating conditions primary among which are the nature of the audience, of the communication experience and the communicator. For any kind of communication to be possible certain conditions must be satisfied. The receiver of the message and the sender should have a common background of experience. An important aspect of the communication process is the interpretation of the messages negotiated, that is, feedback. Feedback can be provided by the environment or the individual's previous experiences.
The collection, distribution and interpretation of information, concerning events in the environment, as well as the transmission of social values and norms, have been indicated as the main aims of mass communication. The complex set of relations existing between mass media and their consumers has given rise to the issue of popular culture as creating a conformist mass audience. It has been argued, therefore, that the diffusion of mass culture provides a pay-off for whatever subjugation the individual must endure in the workplace (De Fleur & Ball-Rockeach, 1975). Moreover, Smythe (1977) has claimed that mass society and culture constitute a necessary requirement of the capitalist system, and he has seen leisure and entertainment as the process of building up the audience commodity. The unproblematic nature of mass culture is also characterized by a distortion of reality, dehumanization, fixed associations and stereotypes, and the intention of manipulating audiences in a conformist direction. Comic magazines, as a part of popular culture, are an important part of children's literature. Their power consist in that they provide a corpus of information about the beliefs, values and practices of the culture in which they are conceived. They offer forms of thought, of knowledge and of social consciousness. Furthermore, that comics have a twofold function (ideological-economic), aiming to the justification and perpetuation of the capitalist system, more specifically, the financial, political and military interests of American imperialism.
The rapid development of mass media and their potential influence has led many to wonder about the actual role they play in social life. It has been suggested, therefore, that the function of the media is responsible for certain socio-political implications either in a national or in an international context. The structure and organization of the modern mass media communication and the influences on the mass audience have been the focus of the first chapter.
Economic and ideological elements are operating within the structure and organization of the mass media. Two main elements are characteristic of contemporary mass media, and account for the economic level of media operations: industrialization and internationalization (Golding, 1974). At the ideological level, the arguments pointed out, to the aim of mass media messages as: the maintenance of the existing system of production; the sustenance of the economic structure and social order; the reinforcement of individualistic and atomized views of society and the reduction of the consumers' critical capacity (International General, 1981).
Mass media have shown a diversity of effects. Researchers have especially focused on ‘political effects’ referring typically to media induced changes in the political attitudes of individuals. Promotion of the audience's social apathy has been seen as an important political influence of the escapist nature of mass media material (Lazarsfeld & Merton, 1948). The media message has also been described as a propaganda message, referring to attempts to limit the ‘freedom of choice’ available to audience members. Three basic processes of social influence have been suggested by Kelman's (1961) social influence model: compliance, identification, and internalization. Critical research in mass communication has focused on the control and production of media messages or their content in the context of expressing a specific ideology that supports the class-dominated society. The proposed models of media effects have suggested, therefore, that: the media shape the larger cultural environment of the audience (McCombs, 1981); the media are characterized by a monopolistic nature in constructing reality (Noelle-Neumann, 1974; 1980); the media can act to strengthen the political and economic structure of class-stratified capitalist societies (Tichenor, 1982); finally, the individuals become more and more dependent on the media for information about, and orientation to, the larger social world (Ball-Rockeach & De Fleur, 1976; 1982).
The media imperialism argument has centred on the processes by which ownership, distribution or content of modern mass communications have operated to create, maintain and expand systems of domination and dependence on a world scale. The approach has revealed the uni-directional nature of international media flow (from the U.S. to the rest of the world) and the relatively small source of international media influences (Boyd-Barrett, 1977), the combination of which leads to the issue of cultural invasion. The focus of the media imperialism thesis has also been on transnational agents dominating the international structure and flow of communications (Schiller, 1969; 1971; Mattelart, 1979). This view, based on the dependency model, assumes that, the Third World countries occupy a subordinate position in the international economic and political system which are seen as being structured primarily according to the needs of developed countries.
Associated to media imperialism approach is the cultural imperialism thesis. It claims that authentic, traditional and local culture in many parts of the world is battered out of existence by the indiscriminate dumping of large quantities of slick commercial and media products, mainly from the U.S. Tunstall (1977) has argued that the media are all about commerce, politics and ideas, and moreover, The U.S. media emerged from and reflect the assumptions of American politics.
Part of this U.S. media network is the comic industry, whose development and function is examined in chapter two. The comic industry is seen as ‘the advertising sector’ of a powerful complex of multinational enterprises of the western capitalist world. Comics together with other mass media developed, as a substitute for genuine folklore and culture, into a self-perpetuating institution, an integral part of the American way of life. They reflect American archetypes but most importantly they promote and advertise certain economic interests. The comic industry is, therefore, a very profitable economic enterprise. Comic characters quite often played the role of sales promoting instruments of the American society's economic and ideological interests.
The comic industry emerged in America and was subsequently expanded to Britain and continental Europe. The development of comics, as a form of popular press, was clearly associated with the more general economic and cultural expansion of the free enterprise market of America. It followed basic strategic needs of the publishers' interests; for this reason, comics were produced within ‘defined limits of taste, so that they could achieve a wide non-specialized readership. Quite often, social conditions have provided the motive for the comic industry to respond in new productions of comics. The vast comic book industry was, therefore, characterized as ‘the purveyor of opium to a nation of addicts’.
Censorship on comics, whenever it evolves, is directed by the comic industry itself, and takes the form of self-defense. It represents the various attempts of the industry to adopt to new public demands of the consuming market. The C.M.A.A. Code and its European version are dominant considerations in the decision making policies of comic production, and reflect the fact that comic magazines clearly operate according to, and express, the publishers' interests.
The European comic industry develops at a later stage with Britain, France and Belgium being the main comic market. The reasons for this delay were that the Second World War produced a shortage of newsprint, resulting in less space being available for comic strips. At the same time this favoured the exportation of American comic strips in the form of European reprints. Nevertheless, the structure and organization, as well as the actual comics produced, followed patterns similar to those of the American multinational enterprises, controlling comic production, and moreover, the extensive world wide entertainment network. This multinational operation of ideological and economic manipulation of overseas markets, through the mass media, creates certain social and political implications on the autonomous development of those markets and on issues of development of national identity.
Intermedia dependencies between industries of mass entertainment illustrate, at its best, the interests of these multinational controlling enterprises, whose products are promoted in the most innocent and ‘funny’ way through comic magazines. Advertisements, too, justify the commercial character of comic magazines being of direct and indirect form. A number of economic interest groups, operating outside the multinational network of media industries, are being promoted and legitimized by the operating principles of comic magazines. Scientific promotion of comics is also in operating through a group of ‘experts for the defense’ of the comic industry's interests.
Both mass media organizations and the comic industries are clearly associated with American ownership and control, either in economic, or ideological terms. A content analysis of children's comic magazines, published in Greece, has attempted to provide the evidence that the themes these comics deal with, reflect values and attitudes of the dominant Anglo-American capitalist structure. The main concern has been on the analysis of the message and its origin. The results indicate that, comic culture can be seen as one of the forms of modern neo-colonialist attempts of manipulation and exploitation of human consciousness, and therefore, comics can be characterized as powerful cultural invaders.
Previous research has pointed out, that comic magazines have, in their majority, the stamp of the American context, and project American values and attitudes (Berger, 1971; Kasen, 1979; 1980). Moreover, it was suggested, that comics lead the way to ideological legitimations of certain social and political realities in accordance with American imperialistic and capitalistic desires (Pantelidou-Malouta, 1984). The ways in which these desires are supported by the comic culture, especially Disney's publications, has been the focus of Dorfman and Mattelart's (1971) work. They have argued that, what becomes politically complex and criminal, is when the comics' common ideology is imposed upon non-capitalist under-developed countries, ignoring the disparity between comic producers' dreams and the real needs in the under-developed world. Dorfman and Mattelart's ideas have been the main motive for a content analysis of children's comic magazines in Greece.
Certain socio-economic and historical events have not allowed the development of a local comic industry. This resulted in a continuous and uncritical importation and legitimation of foreign comic magazines, which is still in operation. A sample of fifty comic magazines was randomly selected for a diagnostic and descriptive content analysis. For the purpose of the analysis of comic culture a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used.
A qualitative approach was followed to indicate elements of explicit socio-political and historical themes, and implicit themes of cultural propaganda, in the Anglo-American cultural context. The distinctive idealized image of society comics portray has certain characteristics which are indicative of the social structure and organization of the western capitalist societies. It has been pointed out that comics are a thoroughly American style (Vera & Leslie, 1979). As such, comics introduce their readers to a life style of the society that produces them and for which they are produced.
The result of the analysis indicate that each of the three categories of comic magazines (humor, adventure and human interest) provides a distinctive socialization pattern of ideas and attitudes, addressed to specific age or sex. Generally, a pattern of basic stereotypes of traditional societal values of authoritarian and strongly disciplined societies, is presented through all the comics. Comics for boys stress on themes of power, menace and war, with political and national issues more prevalent. Fashion, gossip, household activities and romance, are mainly favored in comics addressed to girls.
Important ideological lines have been found in comics addressed to boys. Through the general stereotyping process of the comic world, the status of social institutions, as well as the notion of nuclear family, are promoted and reinforced. The basic social structure is never questioned, whereas certain notions of capitalist ideology are fictionalised. Moreover, the ideas and values expressed through this pattern of societal images, are indicative of a middle class society and its culture, and in certain cases, those of the United States and its central value system.
Comics were found to emphasize negative images of the disabled or of people with physical disabilities, probably explained by the comics' preference in portraying ideal masculine and feminine characters. A general anti-intellectual attitude has also been identified through the analysis, expressed in the form of avoiding hard tasks and problems, or ridiculing the educated. Associated with this attitude was found to be a pattern of unscientific beliefs and superstition, and political issues stressing on traditional attitudes and oppressing progressive alternatives. The overall culture of children's comics seems to be a distinctive reflection of the value system and mode of thinking of the western capitalist social structure, especially the middle class character of American society.
Social and political ideas in children's comics are more exemplified in the case of themes dealing with different eras of the Anglo-American socio-economic and historical development. Themes, such as, the conquest of the West, Third World intervention, white Anglo-Saxon supremacy exaggeration, best of all demonstrate the Anglo-American nature of the content of comic's culture and support the thesis of cultural propaganda and stereotyping. Most of these themes are reflections of certain American imperialistic and capitalistic ideas, expressed through different eras of American history. Such ideas would include, notions of imperialism and expansionism, explicit glorification of white Anglo-Saxon supremacy, Third World intervention and international philanthropy policy. All of them constitute a lesson of Anglo-American imperialism, but moreover, reflect its modern aspect, that of the colonization of foreign cultural and ideological forms, which inevitably leads to forms of economic dependency.
A quantitative content analysis has been used to examine the racist, sexist and violent aspects of children's comic magazines. Any ethnic minority has been found to be negatively stereotyped. Women and girls are also the targets of a traditional sex-role stereotyping pattern, which places them in a subordinate and inferior role towards men in the social system. Violence, is explicitly glorified in these comics, and surely provides the material means to express these ideas in more significant and realistic ways in social life.
The principal concern of racial stereotyping in children's comics towards the Red Indians or Blacks, suggests that comic magazines reflect certain Anglo-American cultural myths and traditions, in the form of racist stereotypes. Furthermore, racism in comics is a reflection of its historical emergence and development in the socio-economic and cultural context of the western capitalist world. The development of racist beliefs can be traced in colonial and expansionist desires of British and American imperialism. Research on the effects of racial stereotyping reported that it might be that long-term influences on social behavior depend upon the continued reinforcement of the attitudes in the child's total environment. The dominant American mass media network provides this constant reinforcement of the oppression of racial minorities which is also a favorite theme of contemporary social reality. They contribute to a continuous legitimation of a false consciousness, a criminal offense of social responsibility of those who control and exploit our lives.
Young girls are presented through comic magazines with, and inserted into, ideological and discursive positions by cultural practices which position them in subordinate roles in the social structure. Comics addressed to girls present an image of women that men want to have, by showing women as being frivolous, seductive, motherly and domesticated. This image of females perpetuates a low social status and places them into secondary and inferior positions in society. Current approaches to sexism in literature have argued that, comics produce ideas that are meaningful to a traditional and conformist pattern of life. Moreover, comics do not present a distorted or biased view of reality, but rather that the world they present is real (Walkerdine, 1984).
Comics were found to be strongly biased towards sexism, offering guidance as to how young girls may prepare themselves to be good enough’ to get and keep a man’. The suggestion that gender is often operating as a dominant variable for the structuring of consumer groups (Carter, 1984) is justified by the presence in comic stories of a series of image industries, such as fashion, and so on. What these magazines offer to girls are, heterosexual practices, emphasizing on romance, personal and domestic life, fashion and beauty, and pop music. They reproduce and legitimate traditional and subordinate female roles (McRobbie, 1982). None of the comics analyzed breaks with this traditional expectation of conformism and conservatism. Yet, comic magazines and their embodied sexist attitudes should be seen as a powerful representation of the whole set of the sexist value system of western capitalist organization.
Finally, violence has been a recurrent theme in comic books. It has been suggested (Lovibond, 1967), that the ideas, attitudes and values expressed through violence in comics, and the related media, possess sufficient coherence to be characterized as an ideological system which bears a remarkable affinity to the ideology of fascism. The great amount of violence, depicted in the analysis of comics, also points out to be a differential representation of violence in humor and adventure comics. They both teach the lesson of the ‘strong defeats the weak’, and also define the social characteristics and the possible outcomes of being strong or weak. Violence in children's comic magazines suggests that ‘comics’ have nothing to do with laugh, fun or entertainment, and moreover, lead to the suggestion that certain intentions may be responsible for this overlap.
Possible intentions of comics to impose and promote a militaristic view of society can be identified, The effects, though, of comic violence on children's social behavior remains a controversial issue. It has been argued that, the mass media operate as apart of a network reinforcing and concentrating influences, the effects of which are likely to be cumulative over a long period (Tan & Scruggs, 1980; Belson, 1975; 1984). Although, certain implications and methodological problems in media violence research cast doubt on the validity of its findings (Gunter, 1986), violence in comics seem to divide children's consciousness of social reality in oppositional and conflicting models of social character, such as the strong and the weak.
Comic magazines offer pre-manipulated hero-models to identify with them and the false realities they represent. They have created a dreamland closely associated to the American social model. Moreover, comics instil wishes and desires to children to bring this dreamland to reality, or if not, to get as close as possible to a contemporary social model that would most accurately fit it.
Pointing out that the mass media network, the structure of the comic industry, or the cultural pattern in children's comics, all are either in control or close association with American values and attitudes, surely creates social, political and economic implications. The thesis has tried to provide the evidence of the cultural invasion, in operating through children's comic magazines, to the foreign cultural context of Greece; moreover, the thesis suggests that children's comic magazines provide a case of cultural propaganda and stereotyping in favour of the Anglo-American exploitative and manipulative interests.
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