Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan
Subtitle: Historical Perspectives and New Horizons
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: 2015
Place of publication: London, UK
Language: eng
Format: Hardback
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9781472594976
Description: "With the spread of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese cartoons) around the world, many have adopted the Japanese term 'otaku' to identify fans of such media. The connection to manga and anime may seem straightforward, but, when taken for granted, often serves to obscure the debates within and around media fandom in Japan since the term 'otaku' appeared in the niche publication Manga Burikko in 1983. Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan disrupts the naturalization and trivialization of 'otaku' by examining the historical contingency of the term as a way to identify and contain problematic youth, consumers and fan cultures in Japan. Its chapters, many translated from Japanese and available in English for the first time - and with a foreword by Otsuka Eiji, former editor of Manga Burikko - explore key moments in the evolving discourse of 'otaku' in Japan. Rather than presenting a smooth, triumphant narrative of the transition of a subculture to the mainstream, the edited volume repositions 'otaku' in specific historical, social and economic contexts, providing new insights into the significance of the 'otaku' phenomenon in Japan and the world. By going back to original Japanese documents, translating key contributions by Japanese scholars and offering sustained analysis of these documents and scholars, Debating Otaku in Contemporary Japan provides alternative histories of and approaches to 'otaku'. For all students and scholars of contemporary Japan and the history of Japanese fan and consumer cultures, this volume will be a foundation for understanding how 'otaku', at different places and times and to different people, is meaningful."--
Table of contents: label: Prelims; label: Foreword - Otaku Culture as 'Conversion Literature'
title: Otsuka Eiji
pagenum: xiii; label: Introduction - 'Otaku Research' Past, Present and Future
title: Patrick W. Galbraith, Thiam Huat Kam, Björn-Ole Kamm
pagenum: 1; label: Section 1
title: The 1980s; label: 1. 'Otaku' Research and Anxiety About Failed Men
title: Patrick W. Galbraith
pagenum: 21; label: 2. The Birth of 'Otaku:' Centring on Discourse Dynamics in Manga Burikko
title: Yamanaka Tomomi
pagenum: 35; label: 3. Opening the Black Box of the 1989 Otaku Discourse
title: Björn-Ole Kamm
pagenum: 51; label: Section 2
title: The 1990s; label: 4. Traversing Otaku Fantasy: Representation of the Otaku Subject, Gaze, and Fantasy in Otaku no Video
title: Shen Lien Fan
pagenum: 73; label: 5. Introduction to Otaku Studies
title: Okada Toshio
pagenum: 89; label: Section 3
title: The 2000s; label: 6. The Construction of Discourses on Otaku: The History of Subcultures from 1983 to 2005
title: Aida Miho
pagenum: 105; label: 7. Train Man and the Gender Politics of Japanese 'Otaku' Culture: The Rise of New Media, Nerd Heroes and Consumer Communities
title: Alisa Freedman
pagenum: 129; label: 8. The Transformation and the Diffusion of 'Otaku' Stereotypes and the Establishment of 'Akihabara' as a Place Brand
title: Kikuchi Satoru
pagenum: 147; label: 9. The Transition of Otaku and Otaku
title: Okada Toshio
pagenum: 163; label: 10. 'Otaku' as Label: Concerns over Productive Capacities in Contemporary Capitalist Japan
title: Thiam Huat Kam
pagenum: 179