Newtypes: digital technology and the evolution of the language of anime
Abstract
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Newtypes: digital technology and the evolution of the language of anime
- Creators
- Jonathan R. Lack
- Contributors
- Corey Creekmur (Advisor)Melinda Barlow (Committee Member)Christopher Goetz (Committee Member)Kendall Heitzman (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Film Studies
- Date degree season
- Autumn 2024
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.007650
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- xviii, 610 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2024 Jonathan R. Lack
- Comment
- This thesis has been optimized for improved web viewing. If you require the original version, contact the University Archives at the University of Iowa: https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/contact/
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 12/04/2024
- Description illustrations
- Illustrations, tables
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 592-610).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
One of the most remarkable periods in the history of Japanese animation is unfolding right before our eyes, as the integration of digital technologies into the creation, distribution, and reception of anime has greatly accelerated the medium’s transformation and fueled its global popularity in bold and surprising new directions. Each chapter of this dissertation explores a different contemporary phenomenon in digital-era anime: from the way modern tools have been employed to emphasize, rather than erase, traces of the human hand in films like Takahata Isao’s My Neighbors the Yamadas or Miyazaki Hayao’s Ponyo; to the way series like Land of the Lustrous or Kimetsu no Yaiba combine 2D and 3D forms of staging to create new “hybrid” styles; to anime’s longstanding exchange with video games, and the stories anime set within video game worlds, like Sword Art Online, tell us about our own digitally-inflected lives. Meanwhile, examination of major moments in the history of Japanese animation reveals how “anime” as an idea has been shaped by the intersection of creators and fans, and self-reflection on the author’s own life and fandom explore why the aesthetics and narratives of anime resonate so deeply with modern generations of international viewers. Put together, this dissertation surveys the shape of Japanese animation in the 21st century to seek out and define anime’s “Newtype” spirit – an impulse to surpass boundaries and imagine the impossible – and explore what it tells us about the broader study of film and media in the digital age.
- Academic Unit
- Cinematic Arts
- Record Identifier
- 9984774664902771