Saturday, November 12, 2005

Why?

There are all kinds of gaps in our knowledge of the past and present. Why fill this one first?
MECHADEMIA

Mechademia is a new refereed journal from the University of Minnesota Press, for critical work on Japanese anime, manga, and the fan arts.

We are currently seeking submissions on topics linked to manga or anime, as well as related material from fields like fashion, film studies, fine art, video game design, and international fan culture, among others. Mechademia's goal is to promote critical thinking, writing, art, and creative activity that can bridge the current gap between professional, academic, and fan communities and discourses.
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Further information is available on the journal's web site at http://mechademia.org.

I think critical thinking would obliterate the ranks of fandom. Critical thinking about anime and fandom will probably neuter academics. Critical thinking from manga professionals would lead to unreadable and unpopular products. Is it worth it?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heh. It's an age thing, I think. Manga and anime may seem trivial to many of us, but it's a huge phenomenon and has some cross-cultural pollination that's very interesting.

Anne
http://annezook.com

Anonymous said...

(Drat, how is it possible to accidentally hit "publish with this system?)

Anyhow.

I suggest that the "professional" and the "fandom" aspects of the field will largely remain separate.

I'd also suggest that nothing destroys a fandom like success anyhow. Any fandom of a size to start attracting critical attention is probably about to peak and begin to wane.

Anne
http://annezook.com