What can I do with a B.A. in Japanese Studies?

Sponsored by:

Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund
School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sydney

Organized by:

Dr Nissim Otmazgin
Department of East Asian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr Rebecca Suter, Dr Lionel Babicz
Department of Japanese Studies, The University of Sydney

The University of Sydney, August 17, 2012

A wide range of studies in both the social sciences and the humanities have examined manifestations of historical memory on the national level and analysed the way in which governments utilize symbols such as monuments and museums to reflect their own perception of history. Many of these works deal with the ways in which contemporary national sentiments are tied to historical events, for example through a reflection on the memorization of collective suffering in the past, the mobilization of wartime traumas for political purposes, and the inability of nations to think and act beyond the narrow confines of ethnic nationalism.

In recent years, Japan’s comic books market has also become a stage for political debate. While in the past manga had typically dealt with Japan’s history in an implicit and indirect manner, in recent years there are more and more conscious attempts to use the comic industry as a medium to convey political messages that are not represented in the mainstream media. Two highly publicized examples are Intro to China and Hating the Korean Wave (manga kenkanryuu) which portray Chinese and Koreans as enemies to the state and urge their readers to refute the “masochist” version of Japan’s modern history and to refute the media’s exaltation of Korean popular culture, and of China’s cultural heritage and economic potential.

On the other hand, recent works like Yoshinaga Fumi’s series Oo-oku: The Inner Chambers, which reimagines Tokugawa Japan as a matriarchal society and portrays the life of the female Shogun’s “male harem,” have used fantahistory as a means to reflect on the gender and social norms of pre-modern as well as modern Japan. All these comics have elicited responses both in manga format and in other media, from newspapers to blogs and social networks. Thus manga in Japan is increasingly becoming a medium to express views of history and contemporary society across a broad spectrum of political positions and perspectives.

In such context, this workshop intends to look at alternative modes of historical memory and political debate manifested in the Japanese comic book industry. We welcome papers on the rewriting of history in manga to address questions including, but not limited to, nationalism, ethnicity, gender equality, and economic and social transformations.

Proposals, including name, institutional affiliation, the title of the paper, and an abstract of no more than 300 words (with relevant keywords listed), should be sent by June 17th, 2012 to rebecca.suter@sydney.edu.au or nissim.otmazgin@mail.huji.ac.il