It is a well-known cliché that it is largely taboo in Japan to express feelings directly. The sediments of events that are difficult to cope with and wishes that deviate from the norm are carefully locked up and packed away in the products of the culture industry. In this context, it is above all manga in which Japanese culture compresses its experience of collective trauma, which already existed long before atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, into images of the apocalypse. How have themes and aesthetic codes changed in manga since March 11, 2011? This question will be addressed by Jacqueline Berndt, one of the leading international experts on the genre, using selected visual materials. She has lived in Japan for more than 20 years, and has made her mark on the topic through a wide variety of research projects. Since 2009 she has been professor of comic theory at the manga faculty of Kyoto Seika University, as well as vice-director of the International Manga Research Center, housed at the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Her partner for the evening is Steffi Richter, professor of Japanese studies at the University of Leipzig.
Part of "Japan Syndrome - Art and Politics after Fukushima"
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