There’s an interesting discussion over at Manga Village News about the definition of manga.
What is Manga?
Ever since Tokyopop created their line of American created titles, dubbed OEL (Original English Language) manga, fans have been debating if they should be called manga. What is manga? Is it a style, or set of drawing conventions? Is it a country/ethnic specific creation? Or is just as the word translates to, funny pictures, or comics?
The discussants reject a definition based on “style” (big eyes, etc), which is a relief. They pretty much fall into two camps —
1) “comics from Japan.”
John Thomas: ……”culture-specific story lines and themes that can only come from Japanese natives.”
…..”what’s so appealing about manga? I think it’s about diversity. There’s all sorts of stories being told in manga so each person can find their niche….”
….”movement lately away from Western paradigms and culture….”
Alex Hoffman: “culture specific content.”
Katherine Farmer: “… we need to take economics into account. The structure of the Japanese manga publishing industry is radically different……”
2) strong storytelling:
Dan Polley: “manga has a story to tell; a lot of American comics have a character to tell.”
Lori Henderson: ….”The art and greater propensity for character stories…..”…. “more flexible content.”
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I haven’t ventured much into the world of OEL manga (original English language manga or mangaisme, global manga), but picked up some recommended titles from the debate that I will check out.
The simplicity of thinking about manga as “comics from Japan” rings true to me. Still, nobody would be interested in manga if the stories were not compelling.
In the four years that I have taught the “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga” seminar we always conclude that the basis for the “appeal” is the storytelling. With manga that don’t appeal to everyone in the class (Swan + Sexy Voice and Robo come immediately to mind) we always identify plot as the basis of the problem. (How can someone who struggles with practice keep winning international competitions??? It is troubling to think about Sexy Voice being only fourteen years old — her age undermines the credibility of the plot sometimes.)
Any other ideas on how to define manga?
