본 논문은 점령기의 대표적인 영웅이었던 타잔에 주목하여 이것이 어떻게 아동만화에 수용되고, 어떠한 대중적 상상력이 절합(節合)되었는지 그 내실을 검토하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 타잔 만화의 특징은, 전전(戰前)의 식민지적인 상상력에 기반한 환상공간으로서의 아프리카를 표상하는 것과 정글에 숨겨진 보물인 우라늄이 종종 도입되며 원자력을 둘러싼 선악의 2차원론적인 이야기를 전개하는 것이다. 이와 같은 전전, 전중(戰中) 시기에 연속되는 식민지적인 상상력과 점령기의 원자력을 둘러싼 대중적 상상력이 결합됨으로서 타잔 만화에서는 문명과 야만의 변증법적 이야기가 전개되는 동시에 이따금 원자력을 적절하게 제어할 수 있는 선한 과학 국가로서 미국이 표상되어있다는 점을 밝히고자 한다.

During the occupation period when Japanese people were rapidly accepting American culture, one of the most popular heroes in children’s comics was Tarzan. The purpose of this paper is to examine how this American hero was adapted in Japan, and clarify the representations and discourses related to these comics. First, most Tarzan comics are set in an unexplored region of Africa where wild beasts and uncivilized people live. This depiction of Africa is based on prewar comics and adventure novels for children, meaning Tarzan comics during the occupation period had a clear connection with the colonial imaginary that flourished in imperial Japan. Second, in Tarzan comics, like a Tarzan movie, Tarzan often protects a hidden treasure in Africa from villains. Notably, some Tarzan comics feature uranium, a primary material used in atomic bombs, as the hidden treasure. Tarzan cooperates with an American boy and a scientist and fights against the enemy to protect the uranium and prevent a nuclear war, implying that only the United States can control atomic energy properly. It signifies that Tarzan comics were deeply connected with imperial Japan’s colonial imaginary in the prewar era, cultural representations of atomic energy in the occupation period, and legitimizes the US’s proper use of atomic energy, similar to typical discourse on atomic energy during the occupation of Japan.