![\"2016-03-19](\"https:\/\/www.jeremiepgagnon.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2016-03-19-13-29-51.jpg\")
<\/a>Challenging traditional notions of \u00ab\u00a0happy stories\u00a0\u00bb<\/p><\/div>\n
Mr. Deguchi’s talk\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0how the world of manga is providing diversity in the form of alternative \u00ab\u00a0life world\u00a0\u00bb narratives that challenges traditional notions such as family or gender roles. However, these narratives are not produced\u00a0by artists working within the mainstream manga culture, but from the fringes often associated with the otaku subculture. Otaku culture, therefore, is interpreted as resolutely post-modern in the way it\u00a0encourages self-expression and the quest for individual happiness unbounded by any \u00ab\u00a0arbiters of meaning\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
It is here that his talk took an interesting turn. Mr. Deguchi’s other important point was to establish that the representatives of high culture, those who usually shun the seemingly derivative subcultural productions, are supporting a hierarchical system that is \u00ab\u00a0artificial\u00a0\u00bb within the Japanese context. Mr. Deguchi demonstrated how Japanese visual culture in the Edo period was characterized by some of the aspects that are usually associated to Japanese d\u00f4jin culture such as the heavy emphasis on mundane subject matters and eroticism. It is only after Western cultural standards started permeating the Japanese cultural landscape in the 20th century that a distinction between high and low art was established. Referencing Walter Benjamin’s concept of the \u00ab\u00a0aura\u00a0\u00bb of a work of art, Mr. Deguchi stated that in the case of d\u00f4jin derivative works, there is no question wether an \u00ab\u00a0aura\u00a0\u00bb is\u00a0present or not within a reproduced work (print or otherwise), rather, the \u00ab\u00a0aura\u00a0\u00bb is to be found within the d\u00f4jin activity itself. In other words, in the production itself. That \u00ab\u00a0aura\u00a0\u00bb is defined by a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people who create derivative work for the pleasure of engaging within a community.<\/p>\n
Mr. Deguchi’s association of post-modern subculture and traditional Edo visual culture as a way to legitimize otaku productions and situate them as the contemporary embodiment of the \u00ab\u00a0real\u00a0\u00bb Japanese culture\u00a0is not completely new as far as I know. I remember a similar argument made by Murakami Takashi\u00a0within the theoretical groundings of the\u00a0Superflat movement by linking Ukiyo-e aesthetics and contemporary animation. However, what Mr. Deguchi’s talk made more explicit was the how the diversity of narratives created by fringe manga artists is directly in line with current sensibilities regarding representation politics.<\/p>\n
Konbini-kun, the life of convenience store clerks<\/p><\/div>\n
In itself, this interpretation bridges with Western academia in an interesting fashion. It is true that some of the examples provided during the talk put emphasis on how queer life worlds and non-normative life styles can be represented in positive way within fringe subculture, but I can foresee the limits of this discourse for foreign intellectuals. Japan is often the\u00a0object of\u00a0criticism\u00a0due to its tolerance of\u00a0manga featuring sexual violence (of any kind), and, more recently, such criticism came from the UN directly<\/a>. The question of whether this judgement\u00a0is legitimate or not is still up in the air and, in Japan, the\u00a0UN’s report\u00a0is itself being\u00a0denounced<\/a>. It seems that\u00a0diversity and\u00a0representation politics\u00a0are often challenging concepts\u00a0to negotiate between Western countries and Japan. I am looking forward to see how academics will address the subject in years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I attended the 2016 edition of the Mechademia Conference in Tokyo last week-end. It was a great occasion to hear some great papers on manga and anime that I know very little of. I also had the chance to meet … Continue la lecture