Elisha Ager
Thesis title: An investigation of folklore representation in anime and how the visuals and narrative suggest nostalgia.
Japanese
Year of study: 3
- Japanese
- School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Contact details
- Email: s1879310@ed.ac.uk
PhD supervisors:
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Japanese Studies - Oxford Brookes University (OBU)
MSc Japanese Society and Culture - University of Edinburgh
Postgraduate teaching
Teaching Assistant for the Undergraduate Course "Supernatural Japan: Doing Japanology through Yokai"
Course Leader: Yoko Matsumoto-Sturt
Research summary
Investigating visual semiotics and worldbuilding in anime & film to consider how nostalgia can be seen through cultural memory.
Keywords: Nostalgia, Yokai Studies (妖怪学), Folklore Studies (民俗学), Semiotics, Worldbuilding, Anime, Edo Japan, Kimono,
Current research interests
Visual signifiers that suggest themes of nostalgia in the yokai seen in anime. Frameworks for research include: Visual semiotics, worldbuilding, character design, anime studies, and media studies. Yokai studies (boundaries, other, otherworld, transformation, shintoism, buddhism, emaki) Restorative/Reflective Nostalgia, Cultural nostalgia, Collective Memory (presented in yokai, and in anime)Past research interests
How yokai theories are presented in anime and incorporated into the story. Keywords: Boundary Theory (境界), Other (異人), Otherworld (異界), Transformation (化ける), Nostalgia (懐かしい記憶)Conference details
International Conference "Japan: Pre-Modern, Modern, Contemporary" Bucharest, Sept.1-3, 2023
Publication: Ager, Elisha. “An Investigation of How the World-Building in Recent Folklore-Related Anime Can Suggest Themes of Nostalgia.” Linguistics, Literature and Methodology of Teaching, Annals of “Dimitrie Cantemir” Christian University, 22, no. 1 (2023). https://aflls.ucdc.ro/doc/FLLS_Anale_1_2023.pdf.