In attempting to analyze the discursive aspects of shôjo or josei bunka (cultures created by and for girls/women) in contemporary Japan, we initially should reconfirm that shôjo manga have generally been regarded as a central force in the  “discovery ” of subjective female voices. Moreover, the boom in shôjo manga has lead to the expansion and diversification of manga subgenres directed at girls/women (e.g. Boys Love, Ladies Comics, Teens ‘ Comics, Essay manga, etc.). This fact demonstrates that the styles and themes of manga comics for girls/women cannot be viewed as monolithic.

Not only in Japan but also abroad (e.g. in North America and Europe), manga/comics have had a long history in which they have usually been considered as male-oriented cultural products, in terms of both creation and consumption. However, viewed from a cultural studies perspective, the local and global proliferation of manga for girls/women represents a phenomenon which can be used to achieve both new understandings regarding cultural products by and for girls/women and new glocal understandings regarding culture, society, gender, nation, ethnicity, politics and so forth.

In our ongoing efforts to explore issues concerning the glocalization of manga for girls/women, we are planning to compile academic research on manga for girls/women into an edited volume (in English) or a themed journal issue (also in English). We have also started working on the publication of an edited volume in Japanese. We are thus also seeking papers on this topic in Japanese. We are looking for papers concerning manga for girls/women from all regions of the world for these publication projects.

If you are interested in these publication projects concerning manga for girls/women, please submit abstracts of between 250-300 words (English) or 400 characters (Japanese) with a short bibliography, no later than May 31, 2013, to Fusami Ogi (fogi@chikushi-u.ac.jp) and Kazumi Nagaike (nagaike@oita-u.ac.jp).   .

Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:

-The history of manga for girls/women in Japan and abroad.
-The inception, growth, and marketing strategies of the publishers of manga for girls/women.
-Concepts of transnationality, globalization, and localization in relation to manga for girls/women (e.g. stylistic and thematic aspects).
-Artistic and narrative developments and differences within the genre, over time and between national cultures.
-Cross-(sub) genre analysis (e.g. shôjo manga and shônen manga).
-Discourse analysis of  “female ” identity (or other identity issues) represented by writing/reading practices in manga for girls/women.
-The integration of research on manga for girls/women into a wider theoretical discussion concerning social theories and discourses.
-Amateur (e.g. dôjinshi) creation of manga for girls/women and its audiences.
-Distribution of manga for girls/women through new media.