Kumoricon Anime and Manga Studies

‘Intertextual Anime’

Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR

October 26-28, 2018

Deadline for Paper Proposals: July 15, 2018

Homage, allusion, and experimentation with genre conventions have been key elements in anime and manga, from the inspirational role of film noir and Akira Kurosawa on the Gekiga movement, to the self-reflexive examination of popular genres and character types in recent anime and manga such as Re:Creators and Space Dandy. Fan practices, such as dōjinshi and cosplay, follow in a similar vein, recontextualizing or reproducing the familiar to both entertain and discover new elements contained within their source material. An understanding of the complexities of intertextual frames and genre deeply contributes to the appreciation of anime and manga as mediums for both scholars and fans, and can both draw on and benefit multiple approaches and methodologies employed in their study, from history to animation theory. 

Kumoricon Anime and Manga Studies is a new series of programming featuring academic panels and lectures, hosted at Kumoricon with the goal of bringing together anime and manga scholars and fans and exposing the discipline’s insights to a larger audience of enthusiasts. Kumoricon is Oregon’s largest anime convention, and has been held annually in the Pacific Northwest for 15 years. 

KAMS invites submissions on all topics related to anime and manga, encouraging both submissions pertaining to intertextual and genre elements and general topics related to the mediums and their attending practices. Both panels and individual submissions are welcome. Topics may include, but are not limited to, those below. 

• Codifications and subversions of genres conventions  
• The roles of intertextual frames in anime and manga (homage, critique, parody, etc.)
• Case studies on the development of manga in relation to films, television, and other forms of popular culture
• Intertextual collage as a means of exploring or commenting on controversial topics and concepts (politics, social critique, sexuality, etc.)
• The development of a fan language based on the use of allusion and recontextualization 
• Anime and manga’s negotiations with historicity, ‘realism,’ and the past (folklore, nuclear catastrophe, nationhood, etc.)
• Fan Practices and Translation
• Auteur negotiations with popular culture (Tezuka Osamu’s ‘Hollywood-style’ star system, Araki Hirohiko’s constant homage to Western rock music, etc.)
• Anime and manga’s influence on works in other mediums (film, television, etc.)
• All other topics relating to manga and anime

250-400 word proposals should be submitted as a PDF or word document to kams.submissions@gmail.com. Please include your name and the paper or panel title in the attached document. Notifications of acceptance will be sent to the email address used for submission. The inclusion of 3-5 bibliographic entries is preferred, but not required.

Please contact N. Trace Cabot at cabot@usc.edu with any questions.