Date Thesis Awarded
7-2012
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
American Studies
Advisor
Charles McGovern
Committee Members
Rachel DiNitto
Hiroshi Kitamura
Abstract
Japanese popular culture, especially "anime" (cartoons) and "manga" (comics) have surged in popularity in the United States in recent years. Accordingly, the fan community for these cultural products has grown tremendously. However, disturbing trends are emerging from the community's interpretations of anime and manga, and through them, Japan. This paper examines the nature of fandom in relation to narrative and identity creation, and through tracing the history of the anime and manga fan community in the United States argues that the fan community's conception of Japan is culturally essentialist and Orientalist.
Recommended Citation
Fliss, Charles Joseph MacRobie, "Communal Identity through Cultural Essentialism: The Evolution of the American Anime and Manga Fan Community and the Orientalism of its Conception of Japan" (2012). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 472.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/472
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.