• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.68
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• pp.130-165
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• 2014

By exploring the works of popular culture, our research aims to demonstrate that culture and politics revolve around each other. Culture and politics are not separate but are articulated into cultural politics; the process of articulation reveals various comparable areas, including contradictions and differences. Our research pays specific attention to Japanese modernity in the eight popular manga series by Naoki Urasawa. These works seemingly value peace and brotherhood, placing themselves in opposition to the logics of the conservative right wing. After engaging in a thorough reading and re-reading, however, we found three salient themes in the deep layers of the works: first, no-nationality a-nationality; second, the relationship between Japan and the West, and representation of Asia; and third, nostalgia for Japan of the past, and transnational desire. The manga series contain the ideas of leaving Asia and entering the West and overcoming modernity. Our research findings reveal that the works of popular culture, specifically those by Naoki Urasawa, subtly expose transnational desires of Japan in tandem with the tensions in international politics between Asia and Japan.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.50
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• pp.153-185
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• 2018

This study analyzed the comic "Monster" based on J. Lacan's psychoanalytic theory. J. Lacan advocated a new psychoanalytic theory through S. Freud's psychoanalytic theories and socio-cultural studies. The main theory of his theoretical background is the 'desire theory' which analyzed human desires. He distinguished human desires as desires and demands and had the basic proposition that 'human desire is the desire of the other'. J. Lacan (J. Lacan) studied in depth the relationship between oneself and others, which he defined by dividing it into an imaginary system (mirror stage), a symbolic system (Oedipus complex), and a real system (desiring subject). Based on these theories, the main purpose of this study is to analyze the comic "Monster" by Naoki Urasawa focused on the desire theory of J. Lacan based on psychoanalysis to examine what new meaning could be extracted. In order to analyze the comic "Monster", the qualitative research method was used and the method of analysis was the descriptive phenomenological method devised by Giorgi (1985). Through this analytical method, the background, characters, and symbols of "Monster" were analyzed and content analysis was performed based on the theory of Giorgi (1985) and the desire theory of J. Lacan As a result of the analysis of the meaning unit and components related to the desire theory through content analysis, the contents analysis was divided into four components: identification, reproduction of desire, alienation, and unique desire and freedom. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, on the basis of psychoanalysis, "Monster" is classified into four elements, identification of twin characters, reproduction of desire, feeling of alienation and unique desire and freedom of characters based on desire theory of J. Lacan. Second, the characters analyzed by the desire theory of J. Lacan attempted to reproduce their desires through identification and projection of twins due to their traumatic experience when they were young. Also, the characters who felt alienated in the process of reproduction made a tragic ending to complete human desire and freedom to fill in their emptiness. This result shows that desire theory of J. Lacan based on psychoanalysis can be used as a new analytical theory, a comic analysis which suggested a new meaning. The results of this study suggest that a new field of research, a comic analysis using psychological theory, needs to be created and further studies in this field are required.