Introduction: Who Is Superman?

Abstract

The introduction presents Superman’s creators and clarifies basic details about his creation, first appearance, and popularity. It also discusses how Superman is increasingly being regarded as a Jewish figure and presents the aims and purposes of the book: it will show that many of the most common claims about Superman’s Jewishness do not hold up to critical scrutiny and that, rather, the original Superman’s identity is best read in terms of how it tries to redefine the nation in a slightly more inclusive way that also conforms to a common Americanizing tendency within the Jewish American community at the time. It then introduces the study’s methods and theories: characterization, discursive traditions and cultural production, and a heuristic schema of historical signifiers of Jewish American difference.