Abstract II

The thesis of my senior project is to convey the message of being open to and accepting of cultures other than our own. I plan to use the recurrent theme of the differences between Japanese and American cultures but in the process of pointing out these differences trying to create a desire amongst the reader to go out and experience these differences on his/her own. For the most part these differences will be pointed out and discussed directly in my dialogue but I also wish to cover a few more subtle issues defining the two cultures, such as culturally determined ways of thinking which will be best seen in the artwork rather than described. I also want to try and write the manga bilingually, so that even though it won’t be open for all cultures to enjoy it will be available for the two it has basis in. As of now I have no real set defined good titles and I am going to be using Japanglish (Japanese+English), going for a fusion of sorts of the bilingual aspect of the project. Recently I have been thinking that I might like to add a preface or some type of author’s notes in my manga. The notion of author’s notes is something that is commonly used in actual manga and it felt like doing this would give my project that extra bit of manga feel to it. I also left the idea of a preface up for grabs in the event that I can’t spare the time, effort or energy in trying to do the slightly more difficult author’s notes. As far as the project itself goes, the style I want to use is coming together nicely and I have the overall story arc. Another thing that occurred to me that I had actually overlooked until this point was that I would need a cover and as I thought about making one the more difficult it became. This is probably because I am severely over thinking the task and can’t get out of the mindset of trying to capture the atmosphere of the entire manga within a single drawing but the cover seems like it should be one of the final pieces, like an introduction, that is best left for the end when everything has already come together.

Abstract

The thesis of my senior project is to convey the message of being open to and accepting of cultures other than our own. I plan to use the recurrent theme of the differences between Japanese and American cultures but in the process of pointing out these differences trying to create a desire amongst the reader to go out and experience these differences on his/her own. For the most part these differences will be pointed out and discussed directly in my dialogue but I also wish to cover a few more subtle issues defining the two cultures, such as culturally determined ways of thinking which will be best seen in the artwork rather than described. I also want to try and write the manga bilingually, so that even though it won’t be open for all cultures to enjoy it will be available for the two it has basis in. As of now I have no real set defined good titles and I am going to be using Japanglish (Japanese+English), going for a fusion of sorts of the bilingual aspect of the project.

Reeve, John. Japanese Art in Detail. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Seton, Alistair. Collecting Japanese Antiques. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2004.
Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
Davies, Roger J., and Osamu Ikeno. The Japanese Mind. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing, 2002.
Schodt, Frederik L. Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1997.
Kinsella, Sharon. Adult Manga: Culture & Contemporary Japanese Society. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Levine, Lawrence W. Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America. Cambridge: Massachusetts, 1988.
Nakamura, Hajime. Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc, 1983.
Earhart, H. Byron. Ed. 2. Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity. Encino: Dickenson Publishing Company, Inc, 1974.
Kitagawa, Joseph M. Religion in Japanese History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966.
Beasley, B.G. The Japanese Experience: A Short History of Japan. Toronto: Phoenix Press, 1999.
Mason, R.H.P., and J.G. Caiger. A History of Japan. Japan: Tuttle Publishing, 1997.
Banno, Eri, et al. Genki I. Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd, 2002.
Banno, Eri, et al. Genki II. Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd, 2001.
Reynolds, Betty. Japanese Celebrations: Cherry Blossoms, Lanterns and Stars! Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 2006.
Hart, Christopher. Manga Mania: Chibi and Furry Characters. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2006.
Peffer, J. “NeonDragon”. DragonArt: How to Draw Fantastic Dragons and Fantasy Creatures. Cincinnati: Impact Books, 2005.
Rollins, Prentis. The Making of a Graphic Novel. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2006.
Amoss, Berthe and Eric Suben. Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books for Publication. Cincinnati: F+W Publications, Inc, 2005.
Nagatomo, Haruno. Draw Your Own Manga: Beyond the Basics. New York: Kodansha America, Inc, 2005.
Hart, Christopher. Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics. New York: Watson- Guptill Publications, 2001.
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Sea of Gold and Other Tales from Japan. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1965.

Ethics

I've read and understand the concerns behind and problems posed by doing such things as interviews, survey or anything else of the like for a project. I do not see myself facing this particular problem while doing my project. Since I am going to make a manga/children's book I won't be involved in the classical research that many others will be implementing for papers and such. Thus far the majority of my research has been and looks to be mainly focusing on how to make a manga/children's book. Mostly its just been reading up on drawing and writing techniques in order to make my end product the most effective thing I can. There will be a small amount of research involved when I am actually creating the book. I may need to look up a particular aspect of Japanese or American culture that I am unfamiliar with in order to ensure that is receives a fair representation. Also if I wish to portray certain images and styles accurately I may want to find and utilize actual pictures asa reference. Still the bulk of my story and artwork will be pulled from my own knowledge of the two cultures and from my experiences will I was abroad. Really the only point in which I can envision myself needing to utilize the ethics matters detailed would be if I were to ask friends to tell me of their time in Japan in order to develop a plotline or point I wish to convey when my own experiences fall short. Since it is not my account or story then I would probably need to obtain some form of consent but owing to the nature of my project I don't see these stories lending themselves to being something which someone would not want released.