Fwd: DIJ Social Science Study Group +IBM- May meeting

[Aaron Gerow]

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From: Isa Ducke <ducke at dijtokyo.org>
Subject: [utf-7] DIJ Social Science Study Group +IBM-[utf-7]  May meeting

DIJ Social Science Study Group
(Organizers: Isa Ducke and Harald Conrad)

You are invited to the next meeting of the DIJ Social Science Study Group.
It will take place on
      Wednesday, May 28, 2003, 6.30 PM
at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (allow some time to find it 
--
address and map at
http://www.dijtokyo.org/?page+AD0-address.php+ACY-menu+AD0-1).

This month's speaker will be
      Hugo Dobson

He will give a presentation about
      Mister Sparkle meets the Yakuza: Depictions of Japan in the Simpsons

Over the last fourteen years The Simpsons has become one of the most 
popular
animated cartoons and comedy series of all time.
      However, at the same time it has been the target of much vitriolic
criticism ranging from accusations of immorality to charges of bad taste 
and
racism. In April 2002, the official tourist board of Rio de Janeiro
threatened legal action against the show's producers for lost tourist
revenue as a result of an episode entitled Blame it on Lisa, which was
accused of presenting a +ACI-distorted vision of Brazilian reality+ACI- 
by the
country's president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Eventually, James L. 
Brooks,
the show's executive producer, was forced to apologise.
      This presentation focuses upon the way in which the show has
depicted both Japan and the Japanese with the objective of establishing
whether similar claims can be upheld in this case. Through the use of
Mikhail Bakhtin's (1895-1975) idea of the carnivalesque, and Carl
Matheson's (University of Manitoba) terms +ACI-the culture of
knowingness+ACI- and +ACI-hyper-irony+ACI- it concludes that the
accusation of racism is too simplistic and that The Simpsons develops a
more sophisticated, nuanced, and even cathartic, style of comedy.

      Hugo Dobson is lecturer at the University of Sheffield and currently
at Hosei University as a Visiting Research Fellow.

      The presentation will be given in English. The DIJ Social Science
Study Group is a forum for young scholars and Ph.D. candidates in the 
field
of Social Sciences. As always, all are welcome to attend, but please
register by May 27th with Isa Ducke (ducke+AEA-dijtokyo.org).


Dr Isa Ducke and Dr Harald Conrad
German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ)
Nissei Kojimachi Bldg.
3-3-6 Kudan-Minami
Chiyoda-ku
102-0074 Tokyo
JAPAN

tel:   +-81-3-3222-5077 (operator)
FAX +-81-3-3222-5420
mail: ducke+AEA-dijtokyo.org, conrad+AEA-dijtokyo.org
url:   http://www.dijtokyo.org


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