Title:'Salaryman Kintaro': The Manga Guide to Performing MasculinitySubmitted by: Romit Dasgupta, Department of Asian Studies, University of Western AustraliaManga have long occupied an important position within popular culture in Japan - over two billion covering virtually every aspect of social life are produced annually - and few researchers in the area can ignore their importance. In addition to providing entertainment and information, manga often also perform an instructional function: they are an important instrument for the dissemination of official and semi-official discourses within society. This paper looks at one particular best-selling manga series, subsequently adapted for television and the movie screen, as an example of the ways in which powerful hegemonic discourses often underlie the plot. In this manga, Sarariiman Kintaro (Salaryman Kintaro), the lead character, Kintaro (a former motor-cycle bikie turned salaryman hero ) is portrayed as the ideal male and corporate citizen. The paper looks at specific ways in which the character of Kintaro is used to embody and propagate the officially sanctioned, hegemonic discourse of masculinity. 'Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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