Browsing by Subject "Gender Representation"

The aim of this thesis is to present how Japanese manga were presenting female heroines during the 1970s and how they were presenting them during the 2000s and if this portrayal is representative to the changes that took place in the Japanese society. This is examined by analysing the two most popular manga of the 1970s and 2000s and the covers of nine other popular manga from the time period between 1970 and 2010. The analysis which was used was a mixed research method which combines a quantitative research for the four most popular manga and a multimodal text analysis of a sample of them. This analysis is supported by a semiotic analysis of the nine popular manga. This thesis is divided in five main chapters. The first one is the introductory part, followed up by the literature review where basic terms such as gender representation, manga and the role of women in Japan is presented. The third chapter explains the methodology that was followed. The methodology chapter is followed by the analysis, which in turn ends up with the conclusions that were derived from the research. Interestingly enough, although the manga in question were timely, meaning that they were dealing with issues that they were actually taking place in society, they did not follow the trends. For instance, in the 1970s, 40% of the marriages were arranged, a fact that we did not encounter in any of the investigated manga. Hence, they are not representative to the actual position women held in the society but they are acting more as a means of inspiration and empowerment.