“I want to thank you for your interest in the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies and I am pleased to inform you that your proposal was accepted for the upcoming conference to be held in Fort Worth, TX on September 24 & 25.”
Oh crap… Guess this means I’d better write the presentation, huh?
R. Christopher Feldman
M.A. candidate
Asian Cultures and Languages
University of Texas at Austin
The figure of the miko or shrine maiden is a popular trope in contemporary Japanese popular culture. Dressed in their traditional red and white outfits, these characters are usually depicted as virginal, often prepubescent or adolescent, and endowed with powers of prophecy, clairvoyance, and the ability to speak with—and for—the kami. They are seen in manga and anime genres as widely disparate as historical fiction, contemporary cyberculture, and hentai pornography, and appear to be particularly attractive to male consumers of otaku culture. At the same time, the once prevalent figure of the empowered shamaness whose talents the anime miko now wields is almost nowhere found in contemporary Japanese pop culture.
Drawing on the fields of anthropology, popular culture analysis, and Japanese history, and using examples from a variety of anime, this paper will explore the relationship between the vanishing shamaness and the rise of the moe (cute) miko. A theory will be presented that through a process of diminution, the shamaness has been shrunk down, ‘chibi-fied,’ into the anime miko. In this way, the intimidating image of a mature, empowered woman who speaks with the voice of the gods has been tamed, reducing her into the cute and unthreatening girl with the vacant eyes popular with male otaku.
First end-of-semester since I started back to school, where I don’t feel at least relieved, if not downright celebratory. Instead I feel like I did 15 rounds with Ali, Holyfield, AND Mike Tyson, and maybe Bruce Lee as well.
I am now registered in Fall for phase one (research phase) of my MA Thesis on Shamanism in Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture.
At least trying to be productive. Least now with the entire CD collection finally has a proper and nicely arranged home. Whew.
Yes, you got that right, I did also completely redo the fireplace while I was at it. For comparison’s sake, have a gander at the original version.
It took me longer than expected to finish reading my prof’s book because it turned out to be too enjoyable to skim.
They’ve added a class on Religion in Modern Asia which is, obviously, right up my alley. Regretfully (because it looks like a really cool class), I’ve had to drop Visual Evidence in Modern China for this. However, as a result of the reading assignment (just spent a couple days reading 100+ pages on visual culture), I have been so intrigued by Pang Lai-kwan’s “The Distorting Mirror: Visual Modernity in China” that I’ve ordered the book. Also just in: Mark MacWilliams, “Japanese Visual Culture.”
Registered for classes this morning.
ANS390 Readings in Modern East Asia – Stalker
(required proseminar for new grad students in East Asian studies)
ANS385 Visual Evidence in Modern China – Tsai
(related to my field as it concerns ‘reading’ a variety of visual media)
JPN320K Readings in Modern Japanese, Intermediate Level – Aida
(3rd year Japanese, semester 1)
I’ll also be TA’ing for Traphagan’s “Intro to the Study of Religion” class.
So I guess I’m officially a grad student now!
