Auswahl der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zum Thema „Popular culture – Japan – Comic books, strips, etc“

This thesis examines shojo manga (Japanese comics for girls) as a site of the subversion of gender. The focus will be on stories about cross-dressing, as the crossdressed heroine poses from the outset questions about the nature of girls within shojo manga and the girls who are supposedly reading the texts. The analysis takes place at two levels: visual language and narrative. Over the course of five chapters, focusing on a couple of series in each, this thesis will show the various ways categories of gender and sex are undermined in five different subgenres. Yet gender norms are recuperated in the end. The manga always return to the figure of the shojo , the ambiguously gendered "not-quite-female" female that must expire at adulthood and the regulatory function heterosexuality plays in this inevitable demise. Nevertheless shojo manga readers need not necessarily share this end. The various ways that the reader is positioned both visually and narratively suggests that her gender and sexuality remains ambiguous and indefinable.

This research will focus on the issue of power and gender in the language of Japanese comics (manga). Comics in Japan are enormously popular and are read by a wide audience. They are aimed at specific audiences and it is my argument that the language of manga helps to reinforce certain social stereotypes - particularly the inferiority of women and the dominance of males. The language of children's manga will be analyzed using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which concerns itself with the relation between ideology and power in discourse. The analysis will be at various levels including lexica-semantic, pragmatic, textual and ideological. The texts to be analyzed will be Japanese manga in the original Japanese language. Manga aimed at specific audiences, i.e. young boys and girls, will be analyzed to determine the presence of male-dominant ideology in the text. I argue that an interpretation of the text under the framework of GOA supports the hypothesis that the ideology of male dominance is present in manga and that it has become normalized in Japan.

Graphic texts, or graphic novels, have spent many years on shelves with comic books about superheroes and adventurers. They officially gained notoriety in 1992 with Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and at this time, critics and scholars began to take notice. However, graphic novels have not been fully adapted by academia. Graphic novels have the ability to offer new levels of instruction and learning in upper-level classrooms.The following is a study in the multitude of uses of graphic text in academia. Chapter 1 looks at the history of graphic text to understand the present and future of graphic novels. Chapter 2 focuses on literacy issues to develop a basis for the use of graphic novels in the classroom. Chapter 3 offers a method of using graphic novels to broaden a students’ understanding of plays. Chapter 4 moves on to a study of graphic novels as works of literature. Through this look of historical data and an analysis and discussion of the modern form of graphic novels, we will come to the conclusion that graphic novels can be useful assets in the classroom when they are taken from the shelf of comic books and used to their full potential.

Esse estudo busca realizar reflexões sobre os significados, sentidos, tensões e contradições relacionados ao termo “independente” e sua contraparte, o termo “mainstream”, ligados ao processo de desenvolvimento das histórias em quadrinhos enquanto formação cultural. Essas reflexões são orientadas pelo conjunto de ideias de Raymond Williams, especialmente os conceitos de tecnologia, hegemonia e culturas alternativas, opositoras, residuais e emergentes. O trabalho está estruturado em cinco momentos. Primeiro as histórias em quadrinhos são abordadas como forma cultural e observamos as relações entre cultura e tecnologia no seu processo de formação. A seguir observamos particularidades desse processo dentro do contexto brasileiro. O terceiro momento apresenta os conceitos de Williams sobre culturas alternativas e antecipa a parte voltada para as intensas manifestações culturais da década de 1960 e seus desdobramentos. Finalmente, busca-se traçar uma visão geral do cenário de mudanças que se desenvolve a partir da década de 1980, enfatizando as histórias em quadrinhos publicadas no Brasil. A partir da observação do surgimento e consolidação de eventos como o Troféu HQ Mix e as feiras e bienais de quadrinhos, relacionados a novos processos de publicação e distribuição, buscamos analisar as obras e perfis de quatro autores contemporâneos de quadrinhos e compreender melhor os significados de termos como “independente”, “autoral”, “comercial”, “mainstream”, “alternativo” e outros, de uso comum nas diversas práticas das histórias em quadrinhos. Entre os resultados obtidos, notamos que: muitas das produções “independentes” contemporâneas apresentam características temáticas, estilísticas e materiais praticamente indistinguíveis das produções “mainstream”; algumas produções “mainstream” incorporam temas e propostas de culturas alternativas à hegemonia; o uso termo “independente” muitas vezes encobre as condições desfavoráveis de produção e sustento de diversos profissionais; considerando rigorosamente as culturas opositoras como um conjunto de ações de dimensão revolucionária, é difícil encontrar obras que efetivamente atendam a essa condição.
This study seeks to reflect on the meanings, senses, tensions and contradictions related to the term “independent” and its counterpart, the term “mainstream”, connected to the process of development of comics as a cultural formation. These reflections are guided by Raymond William’s set of ideas, especially the concepts of technology, hegemony and alternative, oppositional, residual, and emerging cultures. We structured the work in five moments. First, we approach comics as a cultural form and observe the relations between culture and technology in its process of formation. Next, we observe particularities of this process within the Brazilian context. In a third moment, we present Williams’ concepts on alternative cultures and anticipate the part devoted to the intense cultural manifestations of the 1960s and their unfolding. Finally, we attempt to give an overview of the scenario of changes that develops from the 1980s, emphasizing the comics published in Brazil. From the observation of the emergence and consolidation of events such as the HQ Mix Trophy and the comics fairs and biennials related to new publication and distribution processes, we sought to analyze the works and profiles of four contemporary comic authors and to better understand the meanings of terms such as "independent", "authorial", "commercial", "mainstream", "alternative" and others, commonly used in various comic book practices. Among the results obtained, we noticed that: many contemporary "independent" productions present thematic, stylistic and material characteristics practically indistinguishable from "mainstream" productions; some "mainstream" productions incorporate themes and proposals of cultures that are alternatives to hegemony; the use of the term “independent” often covers the unfavorable conditions of production and livelihood of several professionals; rigorously considering the opposing cultures as a set of actions of a revolutionary dimension, it is difficult to find works that effectively meet this condition.