Page - 108 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

108 | Thomas Hausmanninger www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 105–121 the classic Captain America stories by Lee and Kirby, which leaves open the pos- sibility that they have unintentionally and unknowingly incorporated indirect references to Judaism generated by the original authors, but that argument is rather tenuous, and hardly provides solid foundations for Judaistic references in Brubaker’s take on Captain America and in Marcus and Mcfeely’s movies. I adopt here a different hermeneutic approach. German scholarly culture still prefers to look for explicit intentions or, at least, implicit links in an author’s background when the specific traits of that author’s work are being recon- structed. American scholars, however, permit themselves to adopt thematic perspectives that cannot be linked with authorial intent or background.16 in that approach, a relationship with religion is established largely on the sole basis of the text itself. i shall meander between those two approaches – i hold it likely that Lee and Kirby unintentionally created parallels to Judaism in their narrative constructions, whereas it seems to me that the narrative creations of Brubaker, Marcus and Mcfeely may involuntarily carry links to these parallels where they use material generated by Lee and Kirby. Additionally, the application of a Ju- daistic perspective to Captain America and Bucky is legitimate when structural or topological parallels can be established and provides interesting insights even when a direct or indirect relationship between the narrative material and Judaism cannot be substantiated. in that respect i shall scrutinize the temporal displacement and ordeals of Captain America and Bucky in comics and movies through the lens of the Ju- daistic concept of gilgul (reincarnation). As we will see, gilgul and the displace- ment of Captain America and Bucky have significant topological correlations. A reader might wonder why i choose to concentrate on gilgul rather than on the broader traditions of hinduism or Buddhism, where reincarnation certainly has a more central position; I would point out to that reader the established links of Captain America to Judaism, and the absence of any such links to Asian religions (although i recognize a hinduist or Buddhist view can be applied17). furthermore, both the concept of gilgul and Captain America’s quest have iden- tity as a background theme, with both affirming that identity can only be found by understanding oneself in relation to community and by working for the bet- terment of the world (tikkun).18 that position is distinct from the modern (and 16 Mills/Morehead/Parker 2013, 5. 17 see, for example, Mohapatra 2010. 18 There may also be parallels in the tradition of American literature, where we also find accounts of the temporal displacement of a character, as for example in Washington irving’s “rip van Winkle” or Mark twain´s “yankee at King Arthur´s Court”. While the latter sends someone into the past (the most com- mon form of time travel, in science fiction too), Rip van Winkle travels to the future – as does Donald Duck in a classic 1950s Carl Barks story based, ironically, on irving’s tale (WDCs 112/1950). it might be revealing to consider at least irving´s endeavor in relation to Captain America – but my goal here is dif- ferent. Other than with Carl Barks in the cited story, Kirby and Lee – like Brubaker, Markus and Mcfeely – do not establish obvious connections with the literary tradition.