Hey guys.... another week has come for another entry!!!!.....
First question up i am going to answer..
Is it a high or low cultural genre, according to Napier (2005)? What are some of it's subgenres?
According to Napier Anime cannot be categorized so easily as either high or low culture, but it does comprise a mixture of both high and low.. ( Napier 2005)
First off though info about Anime..... Japanese animation means Anime as it is now refered to. Anime is a popular cultural form that clearly builds on previous high cultural traditions. Anime is far more important in Japan than in the West, is truly a mainstream pop cultural phenomenon. And is also a useful mirror on contemporary Japanese society. (Napier, 2005)
High culture that is around Anime is Kabuki, woodblock prints and low culture is 20th century cinema and photography. I also read that Napier states that Japan has been known for such "high cultural" products as Haiku, Zen and martial gifts...... (Napier 2005),
Subgenres in Anime are Shojo (as cited in Cavallaro), Science Fiction, Asian Traditional ideas, Western Traditional ideas, myths and legends and so on...
"The three modes used to examine Anime are the ones that go beyond any distinction between high and low culture", the three dimensions that are talked about in this quote are apocalyptic, festival and elegiac. (Napier, 2005)
I personally think that Anime is a high culture because it's known around the world and is popular which is why i think you can call this high culture.
Next question........
What is Shojo and how does it often function in Anime?
Shojo means Romantic comedy Anime (Napier 2005), how does it function in Anime well Cavallaro states that Shoujo means "little female" and is commonly used to designate girls aged 12 - 13. (Cavallaro, 11). I noticed while double taking that Cavallaro spells with a U and Napier spells it without which i found rather interesting!...
Napier states shoujo for males who are caught in the network of demanding workforce responsibilities... (cited in Cavallaro, 2006) and Miyazaki's states young females are unquestionably shoujo in terms of their age and general appearance, (Cavallaro, 2006)...
Prindle stated that " what fascinates the Japanese is that the shoujo nestle in a shallow lacuna between adulthood and childhood, power and powerless, awareness and innocence as well as masculinity and feminity. (Prindle, 1998).
I personally cannot believe that young girls are classed the same as pets! or play toys for men... are these role models????
REFERENCES..
Napier, S. (2005). Why anime? In Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle (pp.3-14). Hampshire: Palgrave/ Macmillan.
Cavallano, D. (2006). The Anime art of Hayao Miyazaki. London: Mc Farland & Company.
Hey Kelsey I enjoyed reading your response this week keep it up! :)
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked that young girls were being classed as pets and play toys. Women are being stereotyped through Shojo as products who are to be controlled by the opposite sex. There are dangerous aspects for the young females who follow this anime sub genre but Cavallaro (2006) doesn’t mention any concern?
I also find it concerning that Japanese males contribute to a significant majority of the Shojo audience and readership rather than where Shojo is actually ‘aimed’ at - teenage girls.
Hi there Sarah, thanks very much for the comment... Exactly I too could not believe the sterotyping either it disturbing and exactly is this like a role model!!!!...... I think concern difinitly needs to be considered!.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Interesting comments and some good responses Kelsey. In a sense Anime is one of those cultural products that has been responsible for the postmoden critique of the high/low cultural distinction. See my comments to Sarah in an earlier blog. Our increasing globalisation and the resulting awareness and critical acceptance of cultural products that are NOT European (such as Anime) has been a catalyst in breaking down this distinction. Also, I might be wrong - but i think that Shojo culture is probably more complex than the perjorative view taken by Western critics. Interestingly, in Mononoke (and in his other films)Miyazaki problematises the concept of the Shojo. And later we will see the same problematisation in Buffy.
ReplyDeleteOh and Kelsey - I forgot to add that you're picking up on some useful quotes from the source texts - but see if you can embed your own voice more seemlessly with these quotes . . .
ReplyDeleteHI there Darryl, thanks for the comments... i will include my own voice in my next blog. :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great post kelsey
ReplyDelete