East Asian Languages and Literatures Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing East Asian Languages and Literatures Theses and Dissertations by Author "Chung, Ai-Ting"

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    Decoding Anime: National Discourses and Identities of Japan and Taiwan
    (University of Oregon, 2024-08-07) Chung, Ai-Ting; DiNitto, Rachel
    This dissertation historicizes the transnational animation industry in Japan and its former colony Taiwan, and analyzes identity transformation in animation texts in the two countries from the late 1980s to the 2010s. I examine how the lingering colonial mindset is obscured in the current scholarly framework and by the global dominance of Japanese anime. By examining the deification of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki Hayao, I analyze the hierarchical system in the animation industry inside and outside Japan and elaborate how the development of a national animation cinema in 1960s, 90s, and 2000s connects to the colonial history in East Asia. Breaking from the focus on labor in the current cinema and media industrial studies, I examine the coloniality of the outsourcing system in anime industry. Observing Taiwan as a case study, I analyze how Taiwanese animators turn their marginality into visibility in a market dominated by Japanese productions via shaping Taiwan’s colonial identity into a new national identity that differentiates Taiwan from China. Broadening current scholarly frameworks by decoding the bond between anime and “Japanese-ness,” my analysis contextualizes how the inter-Asian power relationship has shaped the animation industries, global reception, and the national identities of Japan and Taiwan. I argue that anime is paradoxically an extension of colonial power relationships, yet also an alternative art form to lead a decolonial turn. My project’s aim is to broaden the field of anime studies beyond the national. Providing a postcolonial story of anime beyond Japan. My intervention in this field is the first attempt in English-language scholarship to make visible the animation history in Taiwan and its struggles for national identity.