Open Continuity: Ecofeminist Dialogue and Inclusiveness in Princess Mononoke
Josh Easton (University of Evansville)
- Within ecofeminist thought and theory, the concept of continuity, as articulated by scholars such as Val Plumwood and Lisa Kretz, provides a good fit for the content of Hayao Miyazaki's powerful and deeply evocative film. This view recognizes how humans engage in othering behaviors, distancing themselves from their natural environments. Application of this viewpoint indicates, society ought to move away from such a conceptualization of the self, as well as other harmful dualisms which inform our anthropocentric attitudes and interfere with the creation of an environmental ethic that is truly respectful of nature. This talk incorporates additional sources and works dealing with philosophy and bioethics and themes such as animal rights and the consideration of time in relation to the natural environment.
Adaptation and Evolution in Japanese Visual Culture
Amanda Kennell (University of Southern California)
- Contemporary media production methods have been theorized in two similar ways, as transmedia storytelling and as the media mix, by Henry Jenkins and Otsuka Eiji, respectively. This talk introduces adaptation as a way to reconsider how stories come to be (re)told and suggests how art can evolve through adaptation using Yamamoto Sayo's Lupin the 3rd: A Woman Called Mine Fujiko (2012) as a case study.
Anime Archives: Digital Curation and Scholarly Perspectives
Johnathan Lau
- This presentation explores “alternative" archival spaces (“surfaces") of Japanese animation and the historical intersections between scholars and fans, shifting ethics, means of viewing and distribution. It proposes that careful consideration of these trends benefits not only fan studies, but studies of the works themselves in an evolving technological context. Here certain parallels are highlighted between comments on streaming video and file-sharing websites, and the tradition of colophons on Sino-Japanese handscrolls. The talk then proceeds to discuss the unstable nature of these “anime archives," extending this instability to the notion of the digital archive. A case study of the file-sharing website BakaBT.me is explored alongside theories of a utopian “archival commons."
