Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

McGuirk, Carol

Abstract

I discuss Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira manga (Japanese comics) series in light of theoretical approaches to comics and graphic novels that were developed by Will Eisner and Scott McCloud. Chapter one summarizes the fusing of traditional Japanese scroll art and Western comics that would create manga and describe the cultural conditions after World War II that drove this fusion. The chapter also describes the principle of closure that this form relies so heavily on. Chapter two discusses how manga have directly dealt with the repercussions of World War II; it is focused primarily on Barefoot Gen. Chapter three examines how censorship and taboos have hindered discussions ofthe war in Japan, how this censorship contributed to the terrorist attacks of Aum Shinrikyo, and how manga such as Akira have used subtle codes and references to introduce to Japan further discuss the true legacy of World War II.

Extent

81 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FA00000895

Format

pdf

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