Manga: A Critical Guide

Description

A wide-ranging introductory guide for readers making their first steps into the world of manga, this book helps readers explore the full range of Japanese comic styles, forms and traditions from its earliest texts to the internationally popular comics of the 21st century. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers: * The history of Japanese comics, from influences in early visual culture to the global 'Manga Boom' of the 1990s to the present * Case studies of texts reflecting the range of themes, genres, forms and creators, including Osamu Tezuka, Machiko Hasegawa and Katsuhiro Otomo * Key themes and contexts - from gender and sexuality, to history and censorship * Critical approaches to manga, including definitions, biography and reception and global publishing contexts The book includes a bibliography of essential critical writing on manga, discussion questions for classroom use and a glossary of key critical terms.

Shige (CJ) Suzuki is Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Baruch College, City University of New York, USA. Ronald Stewart is Professor at Daito Bunka University, Japan. He has published widely on comics and Manga, including as a columnist for Japan's largest national newspaper, the Yomiuri Shinbun.

As someone who works on mostly the western tradition in comics I have long wanted to have an up to date work that provides both a historical overview of manga and deals with its social and cultural impact both in Japan and globally. Suzuki and Stewart have delivered that work. It will be both a useful reference work for comics scholars wishing to engage with manga and a useful text book for classroom teaching that wishes to encompass the global forms of comics. * Ian Gordon, National University of Singapore, Singapore * Japanese manga culture is a vast universe in terms of both its scale and diversity. To the uninitiated, the question of where and how to best enter this universe is often hard to answer. To existing fans of specific artists and works, the question is often how to break through a type of tunnel vision and place one's own interests in some sort of larger context. And as more and more people need to teach, or want to write, about manga, the need for an updated guide becomes essential. Kudos to scholars Shige (CJ) Suzuki and Ronald Stewart for their stellar work with Manga: A Critical Guide. * Frederik L. Schodt, author of Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics (1983) *