Reading List~
Just finished:
少女漫画におけるホモセクシュアリティー （Homosexuality in Girl's Comics) by Tazuko Yamada
Just starting:
漫画は越境する！ （Manga Crosses Borders!) by Ohgi, Michiki, Motohama
Overall I enjoyed reading Homosexuality in Girl's Comics. The first part of the book especially was very informative about the history of Shoujo Manga and the progression of attitudes about sex/sexual mores in Japan. BL Manga is included as a type of Shoujo, which is true in the actual scheme of things, but doesn't tend to be how we think about it in the west.
Some of the attitudes the author seemed to have kind of annoyed me, but I have lingering doubts as to whether my attribution of these views to the author herself is not just an artifact of my imperfect Japanese skills. I can't rule that out, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
The middle of the book was a description of the portrayal of homosexuality itself in manga. I was kind of dismayed about her conflation of BDSM with non-con. (And this, I'm sure about attributing to the author) The two are not the same thing at all, and very much dislike it when they get conflated in the public discourse. That aside, it was an interesting discussion I suppose, though some of it was maybe too Freudian, and this was overall my least favorite part of the book.
The final section of the book was a more thorough individual analysis of several specific titles, and I got to know a lot more about titles I've heard mentioned many times, like 'Banana Fish' and 'Toma's Heart.' I also enjoyed this section, and it made me want to try to track down some of those manga.
So, I guess I'd recommend this book, overall, though I can't really be enthusiastic about it, for several reasons. As for Japanese level, I'd say it's definitely kind of hard. But fairly short, clocking in at 190 pages with fairly large text to boot. I'd say they were definitely messing with the font to pad for size, but I'm not really going to complain.
Next up is Manga Crosses Borders!
I've just finished the first chapter. So far it's fast-paced, interesting, very readable, and I'm really enjoying the Japanese perspective on the globalization of Manga. So yeah, only 20 pages in, but from what I've read, it's very recommendable. Hopefully more later.
少女漫画におけるホモセクシュアリティー （Homosexuality in Girl's Comics) by Tazuko Yamada
Just starting:
漫画は越境する！ （Manga Crosses Borders!) by Ohgi, Michiki, Motohama
Overall I enjoyed reading Homosexuality in Girl's Comics. The first part of the book especially was very informative about the history of Shoujo Manga and the progression of attitudes about sex/sexual mores in Japan. BL Manga is included as a type of Shoujo, which is true in the actual scheme of things, but doesn't tend to be how we think about it in the west.
Some of the attitudes the author seemed to have kind of annoyed me, but I have lingering doubts as to whether my attribution of these views to the author herself is not just an artifact of my imperfect Japanese skills. I can't rule that out, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
The middle of the book was a description of the portrayal of homosexuality itself in manga. I was kind of dismayed about her conflation of BDSM with non-con. (And this, I'm sure about attributing to the author) The two are not the same thing at all, and very much dislike it when they get conflated in the public discourse. That aside, it was an interesting discussion I suppose, though some of it was maybe too Freudian, and this was overall my least favorite part of the book.
The final section of the book was a more thorough individual analysis of several specific titles, and I got to know a lot more about titles I've heard mentioned many times, like 'Banana Fish' and 'Toma's Heart.' I also enjoyed this section, and it made me want to try to track down some of those manga.
So, I guess I'd recommend this book, overall, though I can't really be enthusiastic about it, for several reasons. As for Japanese level, I'd say it's definitely kind of hard. But fairly short, clocking in at 190 pages with fairly large text to boot. I'd say they were definitely messing with the font to pad for size, but I'm not really going to complain.
Next up is Manga Crosses Borders!
I've just finished the first chapter. So far it's fast-paced, interesting, very readable, and I'm really enjoying the Japanese perspective on the globalization of Manga. So yeah, only 20 pages in, but from what I've read, it's very recommendable. Hopefully more later.