Rachel Thorn | Kyoto Seika University (original) (raw)

Papers by Rachel Thorn

Fanning the Flames: Fandoms and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan, 2003

Japan uses more paper for commercial *manga*, or comics, than for toilet paper, but hundreds of t... more Japan uses more paper for commercial *manga*, or comics, than for toilet paper, but hundreds of thousands of Japanese girls and women want more, and support a thriving amateur manga community so large it can hardly be labelled "underground." Mainstream readers of commercial manga for girls and women find meaning in individual manga and apply that meaning to their lives actively, but the female creators and fans of amateur manga go farther, giving expression to their own ideas, fantasies, and interests free of editorial restrictions. The most popular amateur genre is *yaoi* (the acronym of a phrase meaning "no climax, no resolution, meaning unknown"), in which male characters are "poached" from commercial manga for boys and recast in homoerotic relationships. Based on interviews with fans and creators, as well as on participation in the festival-like "comic markets" in which the works are sold, I examine the implications of this community that seems largely driven by the Pleasure Principle, yet also speaks volumes about the politics of gender and sexuality in post-postwar Japan.

Japan Quarterly, 2001

An introduction to the genre of shōjo manga published in the July-September, 2001 issue (Vol. 48,... more An introduction to the genre of shōjo manga published in the July-September, 2001 issue (Vol. 48, No. 3) of the now defunct journal, The Japan Quarterly.

The text of a paper I presented at the Japan Anthropology Workshop ("JAWS") at the University of ... more The text of a paper I presented at the Japan Anthropology Workshop ("JAWS") at the University of Melbourne, Australia, on July 10, 1997.

Journal of Asian Studies, Nov 1999

This anthology's contributions to the woefully gaunt body of literature on Asian cartooning range... more This anthology's contributions to the woefully gaunt body of literature on Asian cartooning range rom brilliant to awful. The fi rst section, titled "Overviews, Representations, Receptions," is comprised of "

Fanning the Flames: Fandoms and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan, 2003

Japan uses more paper for commercial *manga*, or comics, than for toilet paper, but hundreds of t... more Japan uses more paper for commercial *manga*, or comics, than for toilet paper, but hundreds of thousands of Japanese girls and women want more, and support a thriving amateur manga community so large it can hardly be labelled "underground." Mainstream readers of commercial manga for girls and women find meaning in individual manga and apply that meaning to their lives actively, but the female creators and fans of amateur manga go farther, giving expression to their own ideas, fantasies, and interests free of editorial restrictions. The most popular amateur genre is *yaoi* (the acronym of a phrase meaning "no climax, no resolution, meaning unknown"), in which male characters are "poached" from commercial manga for boys and recast in homoerotic relationships. Based on interviews with fans and creators, as well as on participation in the festival-like "comic markets" in which the works are sold, I examine the implications of this community that seems largely driven by the Pleasure Principle, yet also speaks volumes about the politics of gender and sexuality in post-postwar Japan.

Japan Quarterly, 2001

An introduction to the genre of shōjo manga published in the July-September, 2001 issue (Vol. 48,... more An introduction to the genre of shōjo manga published in the July-September, 2001 issue (Vol. 48, No. 3) of the now defunct journal, The Japan Quarterly.

The text of a paper I presented at the Japan Anthropology Workshop ("JAWS") at the University of ... more The text of a paper I presented at the Japan Anthropology Workshop ("JAWS") at the University of Melbourne, Australia, on July 10, 1997.

Journal of Asian Studies, Nov 1999

This anthology's contributions to the woefully gaunt body of literature on Asian cartooning range... more This anthology's contributions to the woefully gaunt body of literature on Asian cartooning range rom brilliant to awful. The fi rst section, titled "Overviews, Representations, Receptions," is comprised of "