A/Prof. Zilia Zara-papp1, M.A Soomin Hong1
1Saitama University, Saitama, Japan
A controversy on the misrepresentation of Anime has been in both of two theoretical applications on previous and ongoing animation research; Feminist theories and Fan culture theories. The contrast stems from their point of view on how animation interacts with society. Feminist theories explore the general influence of animation on society, whereas fan culture theories separate the animation from society by specifying their subjects to a particular group of people. Most of the existing scholarly works of fan culture theory deal with fan viewers in Japan known as Otaku, the new type of fan emerged in the early 1980s. Broadly, three leading theorists have conducted studies on Otaku; Eiji Ōtsuka, Hiroki Azuma, and Tamaki Saitō. Contrary to such studies, Hemmann reconciles the link between society and Anime by criticizing three theorists’ failure to take a real human into account. To spot the misogyny and discriminatory ageism in the east Asian subculture, and to address the discounted presence of girls in Fan studies due to an academic inattention, this paper revisits Japanese Fan culture theory by reviewing the scholarly work of Hemmann which critically investigated major theorists of the field.
Biography:
Zilia Zara-Papp, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Saitama University, where she specializes in contemporary media of Australia and the Asia-Pacific.