Science Fiction

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of SF?

The introduction printed in a millennium publication of Phillip K. Dick's most embracing novel titled 'The Man in the High Castle' is quite a spectacular read. Eric Brown, who was the author of the text, firstly brings to the table such interesting points based on Phillip's early life and the impact in which he made on the Science Fiction genre. It is brought up that Phillip captured and rectified the essence of the genre when it was going through a tiresome stage. 'US magazines were full of badly-written space adventures featuring mad scientists and ravaging alien monsters..' (Brown, 2001,pg.v) Though his writing career kicked off in the fifties, Phillip's thought provoking novel about an altered post World War II reality wasn't published until 1962.

After offering an in-depth look into Phillip's troublesome past, Eric then dives straight into briefing us in on the novel itself. He gets very analytical when giving his synopsis of the overall story and also attempts to identify with Phillip's ingenious writing antics. According to the way in which he describes it, the plot captures the reader with ample curiousness and the whole 'What if?' question throughout. The story deals with an alternate reality which sees America having lost to the German and Japanese powers during the Second World War. 'The terror of implicit evil, the claustrophobic sense of being imprisoned in a world seemingly without hope..' (Brown, 2001,pg.xi) Oppression comes across as quite a pivotal theme in the novel. Phillip clearly resorts to his interest in philosophy to help prompt his vision. Eric concludes his intro by saluting him for being one of the most inspiring authors to have explored the Science Fiction genre to its fullest and by keeping it active over the decades.


Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin.

Monique Porteous week 8 - Science Fiction

What does Brown (2001) identify as the central themes and concerns of the novel? What elements conform to the wider generic features of SF? 

Within reading Brown's (2001) writings, it is clear that Brown has an extensive knowledge of Phillip K.Dick and his book 'The Man in the High Castle.' In regards to what Brown identifies as the central themes of the novel, these would have to be "good and evil, and the abuse of power" Brown (2001, p.vii). These central themes relate extremely closely together, which is what created such an impressive plot in the novel. The abuse of power theme works well with the Nazi elements found in the novel, the rise to Nazi power and the way Hitler ran Germany during WWII was a full blown abuse of power, and the electoral system - thus linking into one of the central themes of the novel. 'Good and evil' as a central theme is broad but it works well with the characters of the novel. One character in Dick's novel 'The Man in The High Castle' (1962) displays this theme through his actions and personality, Nobusuke Tagomi. Tagomi is a Japanese man working in San Francisco who seems simple in the beginning of the novel but then transforms into a yin and yang style of character - that displaying the 'good and evil' theme. Tagomi uses his efforts to eliminate Nazi guards, which makes him 'good' but on the other hand, this causes him moral stress from being a murderer. The theme of 'good and evil' lives through Tagomi while also sparking off in places throughout the novel. From themes to concerns, Brown illustrates the fear of being stuck in a place which is out of our control, which is found in each character in the novel. "found themselves trapped in circumstances beyond their control" Brown (2001, p.xi) perfectly describes the central concern throughout this novel. 

One element found in Brown's writings which conforms to the wider generic features of SF would have to be how it gives the reader a glimpse of another world which is nothing like their own. While Brown does use Dick's novel as the example for this, it is found widely across SF. Aside from SF books, the element of seeing into another world different to your own is found in TV, movies, manga and anime. To be specific, the famous TV series 'Star Trek' (as well as it's movies) involves a setting so different compared to our own world. The series gave insight into what it would be like to be working on a spaceship with a crew of other humans - something so far fetched compared to our own world. This element of SF is crucial in creating a successful medium in the genre, it is what brings the reader/viewer into the genre successfully. 

References: 

Brown, E. (2001). Introduction. In Dick, P.K., The Man in the High Castle (p.v-xii). London: Penguin. 

Dick, P.K. (2001; 1962). The Man in the High Castle. London: Penguin. 

Sye Johnson Week 5 -6 Anime

What is the 'Shojo' and how does it often function in anime?

As defined by Freiberg (2006) Shojo consists of three parts.  First is identity as shojo characters, the females in particular, are found in-between childhood and adulthood with their outward appearance being closer to that of the child while maintaining the independence of freedom that come with adulthood. 

Second is the relation to popular culture.  The Shojo genre has become associated with kawaii (cute) consumer culture and goods.  Products like kitschy fashion and plushie toys seemingly targeted at children yet adored by adults especially women are examples of this.

The third and most important in my opinion is the relationship between the text and the audience.  Shojo is manga (comics) or anime which are targeted at females.  A work of Shojo generally contains a young female lead character which in appearance resembles a young girl but in behaviour acts more mature.  It generally revolves around or concerns a romance of some kind between the lead female and a male character usually older than the female.

In anime shojo is often used as a form of nostalgia and escapism for adult women.  It also serves as an attractive portrayal of femininity for adolescent and adult men who are intimidated by adult women.

Shojo has also been accused of encouraging and exhibiting regressive forms of female narcissism and infantilism due to the depiction of the lead female characters.

Miyazaki's characters tend to be classically Shojo in terms of appearance, age and sexual innocence.  However his characters also stray away from traditional Shojo with their personality and characteristics being that of a typical masculine hero. 

A perfect example of this is San in Princess Mononoke.  Her outward appearance is that of a petite young girl with a typically cute face and a love of animals.  But her personality is abrasive and rash, she is also incredibly adventurous, confident and can be violent.  She fights for the forest spirits and makes a large portion of the heroic actions in the film.  All of which are not traditional aspects of female characters in Shojo.

References:

Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2006). Princess Mononoke. Tokyo: Studio Ghibli Productions.

Freiberg, F. (2006). Senses of Cinema - Miyazaki's Heroines. Retrieved from http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/feature-articles/miyazaki-heroines/

Weeks 5 & 6, Anime

According to Lent (2000), what place does animation occupy in Asian societies? How different is this across Asia (ie comparing China and Japan)? 

I believe that animation is a notable art these days. Especially in Japan, animation is awash with the great writers and stories. That is why Japan has a strong and powerful animation culture.

There are some reasons the Japanese animation has a higher class and quality than the Korean animation.

 1. Manga and animation are the chief exports in Japan. Everyone knows that animation in Japan has one of the largest markets in the world. With a huge animation market, there is an increase in he demand of the animation. The number of writers as providers are gradually growing. By increasing number of the writers, probably, diverse stories are written by them. Therefore, audiences are showing such interest in some different topics and creative stories.  They are trying to seek more creativity and initiative thoughts, even new fields from the animation. Therefore, the power of animation in Japan is getting stronger.

 2. Korea has a constrained animation market. People can see the difference animation market between Korea and Japan clearly. The Korean animation market can be described as a darkness, because everyone downloads and copies the animation from the internet illegally in Korea. They also have a prejudice which is comics and animation are for the children. That is why the scale of Korean animation was reduced. It can be impossible to make diverse genres as well.

What is the ‘shojo’ and how does it often function in anime?

Shojo is a female hero character from a Japanese anime. It also can be a type of anime. According to Cavallaro(2006), the target audiences of Shojo are generally for teens specially girls. Highlighting female characters in the story, it may bring a considerable change , and positive and assertive view on women not only in diverse media but also real life (Napier, 2005). In the anime, the Princess Mononoke for example, the character made by Hayao Miyazki, who is well known for a feminist writer, there are three powerful figures, San as a princess of wolf gods, Lady Eboshi with the women  in irontown and Moro, which are the female characters from Shojo. Eboshi is showing, as a leader of irontown, with massive power, her status is much greater than the male’s. She is also ambitious, has a huge dream to dominate the mountain and she killed  all the forest spirit. Moro, as a god of the wolves, is literally a mother of San. Especially, the audiences hate lady Elboshi, because, she is a military industrial who can destroy nature. In other hand, she is showing, good personality to humans: protecting women and providing works such as making weapons. Therefore, she improves the status of women.

References.

Cavallaro, D. (2006). Introduction:In The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki (pp.5-13). London: McFarland & Company.

Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.