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Bolton's "Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams" Explores Evolution and Role of Japanese Science Fiction
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 14, 2008 -- "Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime" co-edited by Christopher Bolton of Williams College, Istvan Csisery-Ronay Jr. of DePauw University, and Takayuki Tatsumi of Keio University in Tokyo surveys Japanese science fiction, which developed as a genre since the end of the Second World War.
The collection of essays, including "The Mecha's Blind Spot" by Bolton, is published by University of Minnesota Press. It focuses particularly on the past decade, which has brought an influx of Japanese science fiction to global culture.
Despite the primarily visual nature of Japanese science fiction commonly seen in the West, particularly the comic books known as manga and the film and television media known as anime, the authors also highlight a "vibrant tradition of prose" with "rich exploration of the genre."
Bolton's contributions in particular confront the conflict and interdependence between man and machine. "The increasing mediation of electronics in our experience, with images of screens that get between the characters and the world," is a common theme in Japanese science fiction.
Bolton's chapter, "The Mecha's Blind Spot: Patlabor 2 and the Phenomenology of Anime," explores the nature of the intersection between humanity and technology: "The trope of a body that is both enhanced and invaded by technology is a staple in anime."
Bolton and the 10 other contributing authors from North America, Europe, and Japan put the popularity and nature of Japanese science fiction in historical and global context. Writing on post-war works of literature and film, the authors in "Robot Ghosts" analyze Japan's national identity following defeat and its coming to terms with the pre-war years, which the authors extricate through iconic Japanese monster movies (such as Godzilla) and a literary focus on the ocean and Japan's former naval empire.
The authors argue that the literature has developed within a national context, even as it is consumed by a global market.
But the global market will see their own, more familiar imagery within the literature, as Bolton details in his discussion and analysis of an interview with the director Mamoru Oshii. Oshii's popular 1993 film "Patlabor 2," which culminates in a fake terrorist attack, was viewed by the Japanese in a fundamentally different way after the Tokyo subway terrorist attacks in 1995; likewise, Bolton asserts, an American audience watching that same film will see parallels to 9/11.
Bolton is the author of a number of published articles and translations, and is an associate editor of "Mechademia," an annual forum for academic criticism of anime, manga, and fan arts, also published by University of Minnesota Press.
He received his A.B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Japanese from Stanford University in 1998.
END
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet www.williams.edu
News: Peter
The collection of essays, including "The Mecha's Blind Spot" by Bolton, is published by University of Minnesota Press. It focuses particularly on the past decade, which has brought an influx of Japanese science fiction to global culture.
Despite the primarily visual nature of Japanese science fiction commonly seen in the West, particularly the comic books known as manga and the film and television media known as anime, the authors also highlight a "vibrant tradition of prose" with "rich exploration of the genre."
Bolton's contributions in particular confront the conflict and interdependence between man and machine. "The increasing mediation of electronics in our experience, with images of screens that get between the characters and the world," is a common theme in Japanese science fiction.
Bolton's chapter, "The Mecha's Blind Spot: Patlabor 2 and the Phenomenology of Anime," explores the nature of the intersection between humanity and technology: "The trope of a body that is both enhanced and invaded by technology is a staple in anime."
Bolton and the 10 other contributing authors from North America, Europe, and Japan put the popularity and nature of Japanese science fiction in historical and global context. Writing on post-war works of literature and film, the authors in "Robot Ghosts" analyze Japan's national identity following defeat and its coming to terms with the pre-war years, which the authors extricate through iconic Japanese monster movies (such as Godzilla) and a literary focus on the ocean and Japan's former naval empire.
The authors argue that the literature has developed within a national context, even as it is consumed by a global market.
But the global market will see their own, more familiar imagery within the literature, as Bolton details in his discussion and analysis of an interview with the director Mamoru Oshii. Oshii's popular 1993 film "Patlabor 2," which culminates in a fake terrorist attack, was viewed by the Japanese in a fundamentally different way after the Tokyo subway terrorist attacks in 1995; likewise, Bolton asserts, an American audience watching that same film will see parallels to 9/11.
Bolton is the author of a number of published articles and translations, and is an associate editor of "Mechademia," an annual forum for academic criticism of anime, manga, and fan arts, also published by University of Minnesota Press.
He received his A.B. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in Japanese from Stanford University in 1998.
END
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet www.williams.edu
News: Peter
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