Manga: Histories and Theories

Manga (Japanese comics) have long been an extremely popular and influential medium in Japan and internationally. Manga offer engaging narratives and visual imagery revealing central concerns not only of Japanese culture, history, society and politics, but also of the global cultural industry. The medium has been studied through various disciplinary lenses ranging from art history to visual culture and media studies, literature, sociology, and anthropology. Through the examination of several manga artists and works from the late 19th century to the present as well as reading a broad range of scholarship, this course explores the major issues addressed and theoretical approaches used in the interdisciplinary study of manga.