Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Brief Introduction To Aoki Rosui And Annotated Translation Of His Text Otogi Hyaku Monogatari, David Reeves

Masters Theses

The world of Japanese literature spans a vast number of genres and media, so much that while it makes sense that English speaking academia is unaware of many prolific and influential authors and works, it might be surprising that some of those same people and publications are not well studied in their original language. Even though this is common among many languages, older Japanese texts have the added challenge of a variant grammar structure and writing style that forces scholars to be aware of the differences in the classical variation of the language. To that end, the author named Aoki …

The Fascination Of Manga: Cross-Dressing And Gender Performativity In Japanese Media, Sheena Marie Woods

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The performativity of gender through cross-dressing has been a staple in Japanese media throughout the centuries. This thesis engages with the pervasiveness of cross-dressing in popular Japanese media, from the modern shōjo gender-bender genre of manga and anime to the traditional Japanese theatre. Drawing on theories from gender-studies and performance aesthetics to delineate the female gender in traditional Japanese theatre, I follow the roles of, representation of, and media for women, concentrating on (1) manga, a form of sequential art featuring illustrations with corresponding text, (2) anime, animated productions (where the word anime is the abbreviated pronunciation of “animation” in …

The Ingredients Of Comparison: The Semantics Of The Excessive Construction In Japanese, Xiao Li

Publications and Research

Excessives (e.g., this pair of pants is too long) are often considered as a ‘degree construction’ in the literature, presumably because it is assumed that their semantics involves a comparison of degrees. This paper takes a cross-linguistic look at the excessive construction in Japanese and raises the question of whether degrees are a necessary ingredient in the semantics of comparison. Unlike any degree morpheme in English, -sugi ‘to exceed’ can combine with either a gradable adjective (e.g., naga ‘long’) or a non-gradable verb (e.g., yomi ‘to read’) to form an excessive construction. In each case, a semantically different type of …

Anime: Fortress Of Solitude Or Kryptonite?, Oscar King Iv

Honors Thesis

Anime is a complex medium that is expanding at a rapid rate on a global scale. It inspires fandoms, some of which unbelievably tenacious. My research explored scholarship concerning anime fans and asked the question: Why does anime in particular seem to create hyper-obsessed fans? I consulted fandom studies, pop culture scholarship, and sources regarding the anime medium as a whole.

The results of my study suggested that anime, at its extremes, functions in some capacity as a modern fairy tale genre. It allows a viewer to vicariously experience life through the screen, engaging with the animated characters in a …

Higa, Ayuka, B. 1994 (Fa 783), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text paper (click Additional Files below) for Folklife Archives Project 783. This collection features a research paper about Japanese folk songs from Okinawa, Japan. The project was completed by Western Kentucky University student Ayuka Higa for credit in an “Introduction to Folk Studies” class.