"Donald Duck comics functions as a niche market, intercultural and intersemiotic. In 'Creation, Translation, and Adaptation in Donald Duck Comics' by Peter Cullen Bryan we have the opportunity to better understand the intercultural relevance of this fictional character, the social positioning of the character and creators, and the ability to portray cultural transformations mirrored in Donald Duck." (Carina Cerqueira, POLISSEMA - Revista de Letras do ISCAP, Vol. 22, December, 2022)
Chapter 1: “The Empire-Builder from Calisota”: How to Read How to Read Donald Duck
Chapter 2: “Donald Gets Drafted”: Donald Duck at War and as Propaganda
Chapter 3: “The Buckaroo of the Badlands”: Carl Barks Remembering the Frontier
Chapter 4: “The Good Duck Translator”: Erika Fuchs and the Exporting of Donald Duck
Chapter 5: “Guardians of the Lost Library”: The Development of Duck Fan Communities
Chapter 6: “Always Another Rainbow": Fans, Publishing, and the Return(s) of Donald Duck
Chapter 7: “The King of the Klondike”: Don Rosa and (Re)envisioning the Frontier
Chapter 8: “From Duckburg To Lillehammer”: Artistic Hybridity and Donald Duck
Peter Cullen Bryan is Lecturer at Pennsylvania State University, USA. His areas of study include American Studies, Intercultural Communications, and 21st Century American culture, emphasizing comic art and fan communities. His research has appeared in the Journal of Fandom Studies, The Journal of American Culture, and Popular Culture Studies Journal. He serves on the boards of the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association and the Popular Culture Association, as well as Secretary for the Intercultural Communication section of the International Communication Association.
This book examines the scope and nature of Donald Duck and his family's popularity in Germany, in contrast to the diminished role they play in America. This is achieved through examination of the respective fan communities, business practices, and universality of the characters. This work locates and understands the aspects of translation and adaptation that inform the spread of culture that have as yet been underexplored in the context of comic books. It represents a large-scale attempt to incorporate adaptation and translation studies into comics studies, through a lens of fan studies (used to examine both the American and German fan communities, as well as the work of Don Rosa). This work builds on the efforts of other scholars, including Janet Wasko and Illaria Meloni, while expanding the historical understanding of what might be the world’s best-selling comics.
Peter Cullen Bryan is Lecturer at Pennsylvania State University, USA. His areas of study include American Studies, Intercultural Communications, and 21st Century American culture, emphasizing comic art and fan communities. His research has appeared in the Journal of Fandom Studies, The Journal of American Culture, and Popular Culture Studies Journal. He serves on the boards of the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association and the Popular Culture Association, as well as Secretary for the Intercultural Communication section of the International Communication Association.