Dr. Knopf is an award-winning scholar of political, pop cultural, and visual rhetoric and a professor of speech communication.

communication professor, author, editor, speaker

image of woman speaking behind podium, stylized as a graphic novel illustration in blue ink

Christina M.
Knopf, PhD

"INTREPID RESEARCHER, INSIGHTFUL COLLEAGUE, IMPASSIONED INSTRUCTOR"

Books

More than just escapist entertainment, comics offer a popular yet complicated vision of the American political tableau. Politics in the Gutters considers the political myths, moments, and mimeses in comic books—from nonfiction to science fiction, superhero to supernatural, serious to satirical, golden age to present day—to consider how they represent, re-present, underpin, and/or undermine ideas and ideals about American electoral politics.

Cartoons by hundreds of artists-at-arms from more than a dozen countries and spanning two centuries are included in this study—the first to consider such a broad range of military comics. War and military life are examined through the inside jokes of the men and women who served, looking at recurring themes of culture, hierarchy, enemies and allies, geography, sexuality, combat, and civilian relations, describing how comics function within a community.

Books