Forum - View topicneed help on Anime paper
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catharsix
Posts: 1 |
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Hi, I'm new around here. I am working on a rather important paper concerning Anime (it will determine my acceptance or denial to grad school) I am having a hard time tracking down more source material to work with, as I'm no longer a full-tie student, but do have a full-time job. I've come here to look for assistance from anyone familiar with the scholarly side of Anime discourse.
The primary argument I am trying to make in this paper is to compare a crisis in Japanese aesthetics with an projected crisis that the genesis of true Artificial Intelligence would create. Here's the basic case: Traditional modes of Japanese representation have been placed on unsteady ground by a society no longer grounded in native aesthetics. Anime makes an end run around this problem by locating its world outside of any strictly real world. The traditional Japanese aesthetic framework has been dismantled, (to a greater or lesser extent) by the rapid modernization that began in the Meji era. I am comparing this with the possibility that artificial intelligence could place the human race as a whole in a similar crisis; that the creation of artificial life could threaten to dismantle the framework of our conception of human consciousness. this paper draws heavily on an article written by Sato Kenji for Kyoto Journal (URL for article below) http://www.kyotojournal.org/media/animated.html on the race/native aesthetics side of the discussion. I am looking for more source material for this paper though, as I am expanding it from a brief paper (6 pages) to a much longer one. (15 or so pages) I would be greatly indebted to for anyone out there with any idea of where to look, other good material to draw on, or anyone to whom they could refer me to. Thanks. -Ben |
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Giiizmo
Posts: 11 Location: Switzerland |
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Hey there,
An interesting article you found there, thanks for sharing it. Now this may not be of great help, but try asking the good folks over on the noated.net forums under "Japanese Culture". Also, you may want to get in touch with a Japanese teacher and ask if he/she would know of any recent sociological study about Japan or try "googling" a few keywords such as sociology/psychology/culture/Japan/Japanese. I recall reading a few essays about similar topics a few months/years ago (most of which I've forgotten the sources, plus, most of it was in French) but I seem to remember a part about the Japanese people granting greater respect to artificial "animated life" (think tamagotchis or the AIBO robot dog) or even plain unanimated dolls than us Westerners, almost considering what we would call "things" or "objects" like living creatures. Such behaviour would apparently be linked to the Shinto religion; you might want to have a look at it. Now if I may offer you a piece of advice, try to stay reasonable when choosing which elements of thought will be found in your postulate. It's perfectly fine to want to write an essay using such a topic as "what if perfect A.I. existed" to start your train of thought, but try not to go towards something which could be thought as relating too much to science-fiction or metaphysics as it may not only be difficult to find relevant and accurate information about such a topic, but it could also make people consider your work less seriously. Hope this helps a bit, good luck. |
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SuperOnizuka
 Posts: 421 Location: When I look At the World- New Jersey |
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What kind of graduate school are you applying to that needs a paper of that sort. Is this going to be your writing sample? Every graduate school asks for a personal statement, and maybe a writing sample.
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Golgo13
 Posts: 148 |
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You might want to look into Toei's animation studio back in the very early 60's. They started up the first color anime movies that came to the U.S. pretty quickly. How many of you old timers remember an animated film by the name of Alakazam the Great?
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linlinchan
Posts: 286 |
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I feel like the article may be putting a bit too much stock into the level which the native aesthetic sense actually permeated society even previous to Meiji. Then again I'm one of those people who is highly interested in the nature of Japanese nostalgia and "imagined past." Wish I had some sources to help you out. Sounds like it could be an interesting paper though. This may not have anything necessarily to do with your work, but have you read The Anatomy of Dependence (Amae no Kouzou); by Doi Takeo? It helped me greatly when I wrote my thesis on modern Japan and robotics. |
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