Open AccessSuperhero of the Polish People’s Republic on the Example of Andrzej Kondratiuk’s Hydro-puzzle
Author(s) -
Tomasz Kuźmicz
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
załącznik kulturoznawczy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2451-4233
pISSN - 2392-2338
DOI - 10.21697/zk.2019ee.01.07
Subject(s) - superman , antithesis , communism , ideal (ethics) , dream , order (exchange) , trace (psycholinguistics) , aesthetics , political science , law , sociology , history , literature , art , art history , philosophy , politics , psychology , linguistics , finance , neuroscience , economics
In my essay I try to depict the superheroes from Polish People’s Republic and how they served as embodiments of the ideal vision of a proper citizen, as advocated by the communist authorities. I also trace the differences between them and their Western counterparts, such as Superman or Batman, based on the example of Andrzej Kondratiuk’s Hydro-puzzle. First of all, the social order they upheld and tried to maintain was presented by propaganda as a total antithesis of the Western world – consumptionist, filled with depravation – the root of all imaginable evil. In spite of that, Hydro-puzzle was not only a grotesque parody of American superhero films but also a mocking critique of the communist reality.