BL Manga Online Conference!
Have you ever wanted to understand Boys’ Love (BL) manga on a deeper level? Rather than just enjoy it, truly get academic about it? Well, today is your lucky day! There is an upcoming online hosted by the Japanese Society of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice! So let’s go through it, shall we?
Why Is an Academic Talk Interesting?
Well, I love learning more in general, but the fact of the matter is: academics have considered and concerned themselves over these works for many years. While being an enthusiast is cool, fun, and valid as all heck, there is always a validity into considering the history and deeper meanings of things you love. While it is possible that you will find things that will problematize your faves, you will also gain a deeper appreciation.
What Will Be Discussed?
The full title of the event is: “A Contextualized History of Boys Love (BL) Manga: A Peek Into Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth Century Japan.” The event, which has been arranged by the Gesshin Club, and which you can sign up to here, will be hosted by James Welker. He will be discussing how the movement for women’s liberation, and especially lesbian movements, began in the 1970s, but were not recognized until much later.
However, as the event description says: “Feminists, Lesbians, and Girls’ Comics Artists and Fans. As he shows, individually and collectively, they problematized the normative understanding of the category “women” by transfiguring ideas, images, and practices selectively appropriated from the “West”—while remaining primarily focused on the local. In this talk, Welker will introduce this book with a focus on the history of fans and artists of queer shōjo manga, particularly the emergence of the genre widely known in- and outside Japan as boys love (BL).”
For those of us who like to enjoy their manga through an academic lens, this is the perfect web-based event to learn more about the history of Japan, its feminist movements, and how they were affected by and affected BL manga.
Who Is James Welker?
Well, when it comes to academics who have expertise in the history of feminism in Japan, as well as queer Japanese media, there are few who can rival James Welker. He is a professor at the Japanese Studies Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, and was a founder of the Society for Queer Asian Studies. He also wrote the introduction to Erica Friedman’s seminal work, By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga.
He was also a contributing author to Boys Love Manga and Beyond: History, Culture, and Community in Japan, a landmark work in the analysis and history of how BL manga was not only developed, but became a mainstream genre in Japan — and across the world.
When it comes to academics who know about Japanese LGBTQ+ culture — and especially pop culture — there are very few people who one could list than James Welker (other than the aforementioned Erica Friedman, of course). As such, this is a significant yet free and easily available lecture for fans… or, just the curious! Your devoted scribbler will be attending, and they would recommend that anyone who can attend do so, also.
