A coming of age in the anthropological study of anime? Introductory thoughts envisioning the Business Anthropology of Japanese Animation

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Main author: Mihara, Ryotaro
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-31093
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic GN Anthropology
HD28 Management. Industrial Management
NX Arts in general
description This article highlights how Anglophone anthropological studies of Japanese animation (anime) have overlooked its businesspeople (such as producers, investors, merchandisers, and entrepreneurs) by formulaically advocating anime creators and fans as crusaders subverting the global dominance of Euro–American global entertainment capitalism. Contextualising such orientation as an example of what Gayatri Spivak calls “strategic essentialism”, the article further explores how to break out of this essentialist impasse of analysis in the anthropological approach to anime. The article suggests that a potential exit might exist through envisioning the business anthropology of anime, i.e. by casting an ethnographic focus on anime’s businesspeople as the legitimate interlocutors for anthropological inquiries into anime. The author further explores the preliminary theoretical implications of this analytical turn through his own business ethnography of an international start-up venture of anime merchandising.
format Journal Article
author Mihara, Ryotaro
author_facet Mihara, Ryotaro
authorStr Mihara, Ryotaro
author_letter Mihara, Ryotaro
title A coming of age in the anthropological study of anime? Introductory thoughts envisioning the Business Anthropology of Japanese Animation
publisher Copenhagen Business School
publishDate 2020
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/31093/

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