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Robin Hood: People's Outlaw and Forest Hero: A Graphic Guide
Using a unique blend of text, collage, and comic art, this social commentary written in graphic novel format analyzes the continuity between the myth of Robin Hood and the occurrence of social uprisings among peasants. In addition, the book explores the mysteries, factual evidence, and trajectory that led to centuries of village festivals, songs, films, and cult television shows about the mythical hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Featuring a collage of various artistic renderings of Robin Hood over the past seven centuries, the comic portion presents a distinct perspective of the folk hero. Furthermore, the book reveals a largely unknown and unconsidered environmental side of Robin Hood, and touches on ecological wholeness that, for the most part, is absent in the mythos.
112 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2011
About the author
Paul M. Buhle
74 books62 followersNow retired as Senior Lecturer at Brown University, Paul Merlyn Buhle is the author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 10, 2012
While this book probably has significant value for scholars, it doesn't offer much for the casual reader; or rather, you have to dig through many poorly-edited, obtuse, meandering passages to find the gems (and there are a few gems to be found). While I definitely learned some interesting tidbits about the Robin mythology and the graphic inserts were a good idea, overall the book felt dry and poorly-structured. Also, the last-minute inclusion of Afro-Caribbean "Robin-figures" really deserved its own full chapter.
As an aside, the cover image bothered me: the Guy Fawkes-like Robin mask is a calculated attempt to cash in on the zeitgeist. While the the author does draw links between historical rebellions and current uprisings, it still felt like the image was a cheap bit of marketing.
As an aside, the cover image bothered me: the Guy Fawkes-like Robin mask is a calculated attempt to cash in on the zeitgeist. While the the author does draw links between historical rebellions and current uprisings, it still felt like the image was a cheap bit of marketing.
February 26, 2012
“BANKS GOT BAILED OUT! WE GOT SOLD OUT!” On a crisp September Saturday afternoon in lower Manhattan, hundreds of protesters, including this reviewer, gathered together and converged onto the Financial District in order to march through Wall Street. But, as expected, the NYPD had blocked off Wall Street, even the infamous Charging Bull, and so the amorphous crowd finally made their way and assembled in an otherwise nondescript slither of a park. Unknowingly, what was previously Zuccotti Park soon became Liberty Square: the Occupy Wall Street movement had begun.
I begin with this brief vignette because Paul Buhle’s Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero reads hauntingly timely and urgent in the wake of an incredibly inspiring burst of global resistance. Robin Hood is indeed alive and among us, here and afar, as Buhle writes in his reflective introduction: “Robin Hood lives on as a figure of tomorrow, rather than just yesterday, in the streets of Cairo, Egypt, and Madison, Wisconsin, USA, among the many other places where people dream of a better life and struggle for it openly, cheerful to be rebellious.” Building on the struggle of the many Robin Hoods before us, his creative spirit is resurrected once again at this critical moment, as Buhle notes, when “Robin’s Greenwood, the global forest, is disappearing chunks at a time.” As the South Asian ecological feminist Vandana Shiva writes, “If globalization is the ultimate enclosure of the commons—our water, our biodiversity, our food, our culture, our health, our education—then reclaiming the commons is the political, economic, and ecological agenda for our times.” Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, London’s St. Paul’s, Bogotá’s Plaza Bolívar, Madison’s State House, Oakland’s Oscar Grant Plaza....and finally New York City’s Liberty Square: these are all attempts to take back, at least for a moment, part of Greenwood’s global forest. Buhle’s book forces you to reflect warmly upon the Robin Hood in all of us, showing us how “Robin Hood offers a bridge between these mighty events as the rebellion that does not overthrow, but nevertheless refuses to go away.”
Beyond offering a valuable opportunity for social justice meditation, Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero includes a series of interesting chapters reflecting upon the origin and historical evolution of the eternal Robin Hood. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the historical and immediate context for the birth of Robin Hood, with roots in the English uprising of 1381—the first major outbreak of class and social conflict across England—amidst the backdrop of the revolutionary Magna Carta in 1215. The following chapters follow the evolution of Robin Hood as a timeless “kind of media hero at large,” in ballads, film, video games, movies, television, and the ecological and spiritual Robin Hoods in American, Caribbean, and European history. Finally, the last chapter returns back to the meaning of Robin in the age of global fear (but always global hope). Some of Buhle’s chapters are accompanied by beautifully and creatively drawn and pieced together comics that bring to life Robin’s origins, in addition to a fascinating collection of avant-garde artistic reflections on the legacy and sprit of Robin. Folks of all ages that know that a better world is possible should get this book. It is clear, as Buhle writes, that for Robin, there is “no end in sight, and that’s a good thing. If Robin stands higher than any other figure in English lore, even King Arthur, it is because he is mythically still in the Greenwood, waiting.”
I begin with this brief vignette because Paul Buhle’s Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero reads hauntingly timely and urgent in the wake of an incredibly inspiring burst of global resistance. Robin Hood is indeed alive and among us, here and afar, as Buhle writes in his reflective introduction: “Robin Hood lives on as a figure of tomorrow, rather than just yesterday, in the streets of Cairo, Egypt, and Madison, Wisconsin, USA, among the many other places where people dream of a better life and struggle for it openly, cheerful to be rebellious.” Building on the struggle of the many Robin Hoods before us, his creative spirit is resurrected once again at this critical moment, as Buhle notes, when “Robin’s Greenwood, the global forest, is disappearing chunks at a time.” As the South Asian ecological feminist Vandana Shiva writes, “If globalization is the ultimate enclosure of the commons—our water, our biodiversity, our food, our culture, our health, our education—then reclaiming the commons is the political, economic, and ecological agenda for our times.” Cairo’s Tahrir Square, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, London’s St. Paul’s, Bogotá’s Plaza Bolívar, Madison’s State House, Oakland’s Oscar Grant Plaza....and finally New York City’s Liberty Square: these are all attempts to take back, at least for a moment, part of Greenwood’s global forest. Buhle’s book forces you to reflect warmly upon the Robin Hood in all of us, showing us how “Robin Hood offers a bridge between these mighty events as the rebellion that does not overthrow, but nevertheless refuses to go away.”
Beyond offering a valuable opportunity for social justice meditation, Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero includes a series of interesting chapters reflecting upon the origin and historical evolution of the eternal Robin Hood. Chapters 1 and 2 provide the historical and immediate context for the birth of Robin Hood, with roots in the English uprising of 1381—the first major outbreak of class and social conflict across England—amidst the backdrop of the revolutionary Magna Carta in 1215. The following chapters follow the evolution of Robin Hood as a timeless “kind of media hero at large,” in ballads, film, video games, movies, television, and the ecological and spiritual Robin Hoods in American, Caribbean, and European history. Finally, the last chapter returns back to the meaning of Robin in the age of global fear (but always global hope). Some of Buhle’s chapters are accompanied by beautifully and creatively drawn and pieced together comics that bring to life Robin’s origins, in addition to a fascinating collection of avant-garde artistic reflections on the legacy and sprit of Robin. Folks of all ages that know that a better world is possible should get this book. It is clear, as Buhle writes, that for Robin, there is “no end in sight, and that’s a good thing. If Robin stands higher than any other figure in English lore, even King Arthur, it is because he is mythically still in the Greenwood, waiting.”
June 14, 2015
Implausible Connection Between Robin Hood Mythology and Marxist Ideology
I was hoping for a pleasant analysis of the Robin Hood myth, but was sorely disappointed. From the very start, the author tried to make non-existent connections between Robin Hood Mythology and Marxist Ideology and Radicalism. To claim that the Robin Hood legend still hold sway today because it speaks to our inner need for societal, religious, intellectual, economic, and social revolution in Western society is deplorable. Mr Buhle took the symbolism to a literal connotation instead of a metaphorical allegory. Furthermore, much of the historical evidence was obviously twisted to promote the author's philosophical ideological rhetoric. I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who was not already inclined to radicalism and Marxism.
I was hoping for a pleasant analysis of the Robin Hood myth, but was sorely disappointed. From the very start, the author tried to make non-existent connections between Robin Hood Mythology and Marxist Ideology and Radicalism. To claim that the Robin Hood legend still hold sway today because it speaks to our inner need for societal, religious, intellectual, economic, and social revolution in Western society is deplorable. Mr Buhle took the symbolism to a literal connotation instead of a metaphorical allegory. Furthermore, much of the historical evidence was obviously twisted to promote the author's philosophical ideological rhetoric. I certainly wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who was not already inclined to radicalism and Marxism.
August 1, 2014
This is a great little book (just over 100 pages) that looks at the meaning of RH and his/the legends relevancy. And the cover artwork - brilliant.
That was my impression back in Feb 2012 but having just re-read it I no longer think it is great. It's an uplifting book and the cover is evocative of the Occupy/RH Tax movements. But no matter how much I sympathize with that version of RH, Buhle's book is disappointing in that there is too much waffle. More importantly, I hesitate to use the 'P' word, there is inadequate referencing of sources.
That was my impression back in Feb 2012 but having just re-read it I no longer think it is great. It's an uplifting book and the cover is evocative of the Occupy/RH Tax movements. But no matter how much I sympathize with that version of RH, Buhle's book is disappointing in that there is too much waffle. More importantly, I hesitate to use the 'P' word, there is inadequate referencing of sources.
June 18, 2014
This was a confused ramble of a collection, hitting on interesting points without enough foundation to truly make them stick.
December 28, 2016
A well researched and thoughful book, but it could have used a good editor. The author rambled a bit and assumed the reader knew things that I did not.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews