Title
Japanese Popular Culture and Contradictions of Late Capitalism
Abstract
In the 2000s, many works of Japanese animation (anime) expressed a certain time-loop, which included disturbances of memory and the layering of the sense of the present with the past. In this lecture, Prof. Nojiri argued for a connection between these temporal plays in Japanese pop culture/subculture and Fredric Jameson’s theory of the political unconscious. Nojiri demonstrated resonances between Jameson’s reading of cultural works in late capitalist societies and the phenomenon of contemporary Japanese individual consciousness in losing sight of larger narratives and its attempts at reacquiring a meaningful future.
Biography
Prof. Eiichi Nojiri of Osaka University has recently been interested in the study of human nature and imagination in the age of globalization. He is working on the impact of modern social constructs on human agency and culture in the development of globalization by drawing on methods from philosophy, psychoanalysis, social theory, and literary criticism.
Video
A recording of the event is available through the CEAS YouTube channel.