The Manga University of New York (MUNY) offers a series of lectures on manga/comics by professionals, including artists, scholars, educators, publishers, translators, critics, and others who are engaged with manga from multiple perspectives. We hope to deepen the knowledge of the medium, industry, education, and culture surrounding manga in North American or other contexts in dialogue with the invited experts. We welcome everyone to participate and be a part of discussion while enjoying delightful meals and drinks available at RESOBOX!
The MUNY has evolved from and works in conjunction with MaRRN (Manga Research and Reading Network).
Upcoming Events
- Friday, October 13, 2017 – Dr. Hiromi Tsuchiya Dollase presenting on “Mother Horror in Japanese Shōjo manga”
DATE: October 13, 2017 7:00pm – 9:00pm (or later!)
LOCATION: RESOBOX East Village :
91 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10003 (Map)
Admission: General Price: $10
Students Price: $8 With valid student ID.
Since its emergence in the 1950s, shōjo manga has functioned as a medium to mirror girl readers’ psyches. With fantasy as a weapon, young manga artists have explored new expressions of love, power and femininity, while shōjo horror manga have represented the dark regions of young girls’ hidden emotions and subconscious fears. A frequently occurring motif is that of mothers, who are often portrayed in metamorphosis, transforming into grotesque creatures, animals, and demons, threatening their daughters with their abominable presence. The presentation will discuss how, through horrifying representations of mothers, manga artists express girls’ fears toward their mothers as well as the idea of becoming mothers themselves. Manga works by artists such as Umezu Kazuo, Yamagishi Ryōko, and Hagio Moto will be examined.
About the Lecturer: Dr. Hiromi Tsuchiya Dollase
Dr. Hiromi Tsuchiya Dollase is an associate professor of Japanese at Vassar College. She received her Ph.D. in comparative literature at Purdue University in 2003.
Her areas of research include Japanese women’s literature, girls’ magazine culture, and popular culture. At Vassar, she teaches courses such as “Japanese Popular Culture and Literature” and “The Gothic and the Supernatural in Japanese Literature,” in addition to language courses.
Her publications include “Ribbons Undone: The Shōjo Story Debates in Prewar Japan” in Girl Reading Girl in Japan (ed. Tomoko Aoyama and Barbara Hartley, Routledge, 2009) and “Kawabata’s Wartime Message in Utsukushii tabi (Beautiful Voyage)” in Negotiating Censorship in Modern Japan (ed. Rachel Hutchinson, Routledge, 2013). She co-edited a special issue of The US–Japan Women’s Journal featuring shōjo manga in 2010 and a book titled Shōjo Manga Wonderland (Meiji Shoin, 2012). She is currently working on a book titled Age of Shojo: Emergence, Evolution and Power of Girls’ Magazine Fiction in Japan (SUNY Press).
