Theatrical realism in manga: Performativity of gender in Minako Narita's Alien Street | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 12, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 1753-6421
  • E-ISSN: 1753-643X

Abstract

Abstract

This article examines different conceptions of realism in theatre and manga by focusing on gender performance in Minako Narita's manga, Alien Street (1980–84). It depicts a male actor who plays female roles in realist theatre productions. I argue that the believability of this gender performance stems in part from the conventions of manga realism, where non-realistic signs are used to mark gender distinctions. However, in contrast to these conventions, this manga also highlights the performative nature of gender by revealing how a realist stage forces the performers to cite and repeat the conventional gendered practices. In doing so, mixes manga and theatre realism and complicates our understanding of gender conventions.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jafp_00002_1
2019-12-01
2024-04-19
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Akera, Kan. (2014-15), Sumire no hana saku gāruzu (Girls in Blooming Violets), Tokyo:: Shōgakukan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anan, Nobuko. (2016), Contemporary Japanese Women's Theatre and Visual Arts: Performing Girls' Aesthetics, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Antononoka, Olga. (2019);, 'Shōjo manga beyond Shōjo manga: The "Female Mode of Address" in Kabukumon'. , in J. Berndt,, K. Nagaike, and F. Ogi. (eds), Shōjo Across Media: Exploring 'Girl' Practices in Contemporary Japan, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 83-105.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Butler, Judith. (1993), Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex', New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Demy, Jacques. (1979), Lady Oscar, Japan and France:: Kitty Films, Shiseidō, NTV and Tōhō;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Diamond, Elin. (1997), Unmaking Mimesis: Essays on Feminism and Theater, London and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Eyers, Tom. (2012), Lacan and the Concept of the 'Real', Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Fujita, Kazuko, and Himuro, Saeko. (1981-85), Raijingu! (Rising!), Tokyo:: Shōgakukan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Ikeda, Riyoko. (1994), Berusaiyu no bara (The Rose of Versailles), Tokyo:: Shūeisha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Itō, . ([2005] 2014), Tezuka izu deddo: Hirakareta manga hyōgenron e (Tezuka is Dead: Postmodernist and Modernist Approaches to Japanese Manga), Tokyo:: Seikaisha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Iwashita, Hōsei. (2013), Shōjo manga no hyōgen kikō: Hirakareta manga hyōgenshi to 'Tezuka Osamu' (Mechanism of Girls' Manga: New Horizon of Manga History and 'Tezuka Osamu'), Tokyo:: NTT Shuppan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Kihara, Toshie. (1980), Mugenkaden, Tokyo:: Hakusensha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Narita, Minako. (1995), Eirian Sutorīto (Alien Street), Tokyo:: Hakusensha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Narita, Minako. (2003-present), Hana yori mo hana no gotoku (More Flowery than Flowers), Tokyo:: Hakusensha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Ōgushi, Hisayo. (2012);, 'Umi no mukō no shōjo tachi: Hon'yaku shōsetsu kara shōjo manga e no michinori' ('Girls overseas: From translated novels to girls' manga'). , Rikkyo University Gender Forum, 14, pp. 59-64.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Onoda Power, Natsu. (2009), God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga, Jackson, MS:: University Press of Mississippi;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Oshiyama, Michiko. (2007), Shōjo manga jendā hyōshōron: 'Dansō no shōjo' no zōkei to aidentiti (Gender Representation in Shōjo Manga: Design and Identity of the 'Cross-Dressing Girl'), Tokyo:: Sairyūsha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Ōtsuka, Eiji. ([2003] 2009), Atomu no meidai: Tezuka Osamu to sengo manga no shudai (Astro Boy's Proposition: Tezuka Osamu and the Themes/Subjects of Postwar Manga), Tokyo:: Kadokawa;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Ōtsuka, Eiji. (2003), Kyarakutā shōsetsu no tsukurikata (How to Make Character Novels), Tokyo:: Kodansha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Ōtsuka, Eiji. (2013);, ' Hokō: Mō ichido kyarakutā shōsetsu towa nani ka ni tsuite kangaeru-Azuma Hideo to Mori Ōgai' ('Supplementary lesson: Thinking about character novels again-Azuma Hideo and Mori Ōgai'). , in Kyarakutā shōsetsu no tsukurikata (How to Make Character Novels), Tokyo:: Kodansha;, pp. 316-45.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Saiki, Kumiko. (2015-present), Kageki shōjo!!, Tokyo:: Hakusensha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Sakura Sawa (2012-14), Kabuki Iza, Tokyo:: Kadokawa;.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Shimazu, Aki. (2010-15), Pintokona, Tokyo:: Shōgakukan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Steinberg, Marc. (2014);, 'Realism in the animation media environment: Animation theory from Japan'. , in K. Backman. (ed.), Animating Film Theory, Durham and London:: Duke University Press;, pp. 287-300.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Sugawa, Akiko. (2015);, 'Fantajī ni asobu: Pafōmansu to shite no 2.5 jigen bunkaryōiki to imajinēshon' ('Playing in fantasy: 2.5-dimensional cultural sphere and imagination as performance'). , Yurīka (Eureka), 47:5, pp. 41-47.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Tanaka, Akio, and Miyahara, David. (2007-10), Kabukumon, Tokyo:: Kōdansha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Tezuka, Osamu. (2009), Ribon no kishi (Princess Knight), Tokyo:: Kōdansha;.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Tezuka, Osamu. (2010), 'Kāten wa kon'ya mo aoi (The Curtain Remains Blue Tonight)', in Arashi no yōsei (The Fairy of Storm), Tokyo:: Kōdansha;, pp. 313-326.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Yamagishi, Ryōko. (2011-12), Hi izuru tokoro no tenshi (Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun), Tokyo:: Kadokawa;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Yamamoto, Yūri. (2018);, 'Bācharu engeki jizai na butai' ('Virtual theatre and unrestricted stage'). , Asahi Shimbun Digital, 25 October, https://www.asahi.com/articles/DA3S13738719.html. Accessed 20 June 2019 .
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Zarrilli, Phillip B.,, McConachie, Bruce,, Williams, Gary Jay, and Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher. (2010), Theatre Histories: An Introduction, New York:: Routledge and Taylor & Francis Group;.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Anan, N.. (2019);, 'Theatrical realism in manga: Performativity of gender in Minako Narita's Alien Street'. , Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance, 12:3, pp. 13341, doi: 10.1386/jafp_00002_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jafp_00002_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error