Two new books on Japanese Popular culture and globalization

[Ariane Beldi]

Dear all,
 
I don't often contribute to this list, but here is the occasion for me to do
so. I don't think that this announcement was already made on this mailing
list, but if it was (and I missed it), I apologize in advance for
cross-posting. 
 
I would like to bring to the attention of those of you who are interested in
issues of cultural globalization, worldwide circulation of popular culture
artifacts and even more specifically in the issue of the reception of
Japanese audiovisual entertainment in the West, to a new book by Marco
Pellitteri, an Italian media sociologist and active member of the Manga
Network. Actually, this is the English translation of his latest book,
initially published in Italian, two years ago. I also would like to specifiy
that I know Marco quite well and that I'm relaying the news of this
publication on his behalf, but with a good level of confidence, having
already read several articles and papers by him. 
 
Entitled The dragon and the dazzle: Models, strategies and identities of
Japanese Imagination - A European Perspective, it offers a thorough
socio-historical study of the contact between Japanese popular goods and
European youth from the 1970's until now. Although it focuses on France and
Italy, the two main markets for mangas and animes in Europe, the aim of this
book is to show how their reception by young consumers was both impacted by
and influenced the sociopolitical discourses that were generated among the
various actors of the public spheres in these countries by the massive
marketing of this particular type of popular entertainment. The author
identifies two phases for its establishement in the general audiovisual
entertainment field in Europe. The first one running from the 1970's to the
mid-1990's (the Dragon) and the second from the late 1990's until now (the
Dazzle), covering overall roughly 2-3 generations of audiences. 
 
This book is prefaced by Yui Kiyomitsu, Professor of sociology at the
University of Kobe, Japan, and specialist of Japanese modernization. It also
includes an essay by Professor Jean-Marie Bouissou, Senior Researcher at the
Center for International Study and Research (CERI), in Paris, and founder of
the Manga Network. 
 
For more information, please consult the book's page on its editor's
website, Tunue: http://www.tunue.com/page.php?idArt=8693. 
 
 
I also would like to signal the recent publication of another book on a
similar topic, but this time taken at the global level. Entitled Manga: An
Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives
(http://www.amazon.com/Manga-Anthology-Global-Cultural-Perspectives/dp/08264
29378), and edited by Toni Johson-Wood, it aimes at covering various aspects
of the worldwide circulation and success of manga from a variety of
viewpoints and scholars from several countries (I also took part in
it...chapter 15 about manga readers in Europe.). Ranging from brief overlook
at the historical development of manga as an art and medium to its
distribution outside Japan, and including such issues as the definition of
specific genres (shojo, shonen, etc.) and closer look at manga as particular
sequential art, this collection of papers makes it for a good overall
introduction to this topic for both students, scholars and even a wider,
although already aware, public. It also offers a sort of cross-section view
of the application of recently developped perspectives in social sciences,
especially on globalization and cross-cultural hybridization, to a subject
that has been long neglected by the academia. 
 
If you have more questions about these two books, don't hesitate to contact
me! 
 
Kind regards,
 
Ariane Beldi
 
Ph.D. candidate
 <blocked::http://www.unige.ch/ses/socio/communication/index.html> Doctoral
school in Media & Communication Studies
University of Geneva
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