Let's Manga

I personally am pleased with the EOCS’ decision. It is an important rejection of a deeply offensive form of expression. I would not have been pleased if it had been the Japanese government that had decided to ban such material. There is a world of difference between government censorship and the rejection of certain forms of expression as unacceptable by private groups.

Several of my German correspondents have contacted me to let me know that vol. 1 of Ayano Yamane’s Finder has been “indexed” in Germany. That means that it has been deemed harmful to minors and not only is its distribution restricted, it cannot be “advertised”—which means that bloggers in Germany can’t even mention it, which is why they passed the news along to me. Here’s the gist of the law:

"I'm thinking to use anime to energize our bid [to bring the Olympics to Tokyo]."

Workshop on Popular Culture, Cultural Policy, and Cultural Discourse in East and Southeast Asia, June 1-2, 2009, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem The workshop on Popular Culture, Cultural Policy, and Cultural Discourse in East and Southeast Asia, will be held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. The purpose of this workshop is to conduct a comparative and multi-sited study of the emergence of the popular cultural industries of East and Southeast Asia, examine the corresponding cultural policies initiated by the various states in the region, and construct an empirically-plausible framework to examine related issues. The workshop will particularly focus on the cases of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean poplar cultures: their emergence, expansion to other markets in the region, and the discourse they create. Panel 1: Popular Culture, Regionalization, and the State 1. Amitav Acharya, American University, "Culture, Regionalism and Southeast Asian Identity" 2. Galia Press-Barnathan, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "Does Popular Culture Matter to International Relations Scholars? Possible Links and Methodological Challenges" 3. Nissim Otmazgin, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "A Tail that Wags the Dog: Cultural Industry and Cultural Policy in East Asia" Commentator: Arie Kacowicz, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Panel 2: Cultural Flows and Soft Power 1. Chua Beng Huat, National University of Singapore "Delusional Desire: Soft Power and TV Dramas" 2. Jean Marie Bouissou, Science-Po "From Niche Market to Hypermarkets: The Birth, Growth and Maturation of the French Manga Market" 3. Eldad J. Pardo, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "The Comeback of Iran's Z $B{ (Brkh $Bb (Bneh: Ancient Heroes in the Global Age" Commentator: Eyal Ben Ari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Panel 3: Cultural Policy in the Making 1. Kozuka Souichirou, Sophia University "Copyright Law as a Tool of New Industrial Policy?: Japan's Unsuccessful Attempt to Promote its Contents Industry" 2. Kukhee Choo, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies "Cool Japan Nation: Japanese Governmental Policy towards the Anime Industry" 3. Jung-Yup Lee, University of Massachusetts, Amherst "Managing the Transnational, Governing the National: Cultural Policy and the Politics of "Cultural Archetype Project in South Korea" Commentator: Ehud Harari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Panel 4: Cultural Industry and Cultural Discourse 1. Miki Daliot-Bul, Haifa University "The New 'Japan Brand': Cool Japan as Zeitgeist" 2. Pang Laikwan, the Chinese University of Hong Kong "Censorship against Ghosts: China's Cultural Policy Historicized" 3. Kwai Cheung Lo, Hong Kong Baptist University "Historical Tensions in East Asian Popular Culture and the Roles of the State" Commentator: Chua Beng Huat, National University of Singapore Panel 5: Cultural Production and Social Change 1. Marwyn S. Samuels, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "The Media Industry, Popular Culture and Social Change in Contemporary China" 2. Shin Hyunjoon, Sungkonghoe University "Trans/National Cultural Industries as an Agency of Regionalization? The Case of South Korea" 3. Cherian George, Nanyang Technological University "Silence and Protest in Singapore's Censorship Debates" Commentator: Nir Avieli, Ben-Gurion University Panel 6: A Comparative Perspective: Popular Culture in the Middle East 1. Wael Abu-Uksa, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "State and New Media in the Middle East: An Overview" 2. Sariel Birnbaum, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "Historical Audio-Visual Dramas: From Egyptian Dominance to a Pan-Arab Satellite Discourse" 3. Tal Shenhav, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem "Broadcasting the Future Generation: Gender Messages for Women and Youth in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Tunisia" Panel 7: Concluding Comments and Open Discussion Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University Eyal Ben Ari, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem For further information and registration please contact Dr. Nissim Otmazgin at nissimot@mscc.huji.ac.il

In McCloud's Understanding Comics he proposed his theory of "cartoon identification" that cartoony* images are "identified" with better than realistic images. This study (pdf) tested McCloud's theory by using behavioral measures of a 7-point rating and EEG measures of the brain's electrical activity.

They take these results to be support for McCloud's theory of identification that indeed, cartoony images do invoke greater empathy from a reader than realistic images.