With the modern globalization of popular culture and the economies that sustains
its spread, it’s becoming harder and harder to say exactly what is “Japanese” (or “American”)
any more. American kids play Yu-Gi-Oh! Dual Monsters and watch anime while
Japanese kids take on hip-hop and take in Hollywood. Accordingly, we will
not presume that we know what we mean by “popular,” “culture,” or “popular
culture”; even the terms “modern” and “Japan” will
come under question throughout this course. That is to say, we will not limit
our investigations to the mere enumeration and chronological layout of a certain
content that might be labeled “Popular Culture in Modern Japan.” We
will be just as concerned with the form and formation of the content and the
concept of “popular (and mass) culture” in modern Japan. We will
explore the idea of modernity as it was understood and embodied in early 20th-century
Japan; we will ask what makes any cultural formations “popular” and “Japanese.” One
prominent theoretical and historical question that will engage us is the degree
to which formations of popular culture serve to emancipate and/or to control
everyday lives. Other prominent issues we will engage are how popular cultural
practices construct, reinforce, and contest gender, status, national, and
ethnic identities.
East Asian Studies 115F: Self & Cyborg in
Japanese Animation (Fall 2008)
Animated films and TV programs (anime) rank among contemporary Japan’s
most prominent global exports and most important domestic media products.
The range of audience and content in anime—from cartoony kid shows
to sophisticated feature films to fantastical romances to philosophically
complex SF to stomach-churningly violent pornography—render it
a significant object of study as a product of the so-called “information
society” of late capitalist, postmodern Japan. Many anime treat
themes associated with “serious art” and thus require us
to take them seriously even as we enjoy them as “simple” entertainment.
While one risks taking the enjoyment out of any pop cultural form by
submitting it to academic scrutiny, we will enjoin our study of anime
in the belief that close analysis of anime will enhance our enjoyment
of it. In this course we will be engaging some of the medium’s
most challenging examples that deal with issues of human consciousness,
selfhood, reality versus illusion, and human-machine relations.
Can one
be human in a non-human body? At what point do technological enhancements
to the body diminish one’s humanity? To what extent
can an artificial intelligence develop a sense of self? What is the relationship
between body, mind, self, and identity? How do visual and electronic
media construct and deconstruct self identity? Does reality matter if
a simulation is realistic and you don’t realize it’s a simulation?
Who are you? These are but a few questions that this course tackles through
the medium of Japanese animation (anime), examples of which are well-known
for taking up challenging philosophical and psychological issues such
as these. The subset of anime that this course focuses on represents
some of the most thought-provoking work created for feature-length theatrical
release and for TV series broadcasts in Japan. We will look at the works
of Oshii Mamoru (Avalon, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence);
Kon Satoshi (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Paranoia Agent); and Nakamura
Ryutaro (Serial Experiments Lain). We will also view The Matrix in relation
to cyberpunk anime. Outside screenings on Monday evenings required.
