Mechademia, Call for Papers

Mechademia: An Annual Forum for Anime, Manga and the Fan Arts seeks submissions in a variety of formats and from a range of disciplines. The focus of this journal is manga and anime, but we do not see these only as objects. Rather, their production, distribution, and reception continue to generate connective networks manifest in an expanding spiral of art, aesthetics, history, culture, and society that we call Art Mecho. Thus our subject area extends from Japanese anime and manga into game design, fan/subcultural/conspicuous fashion, graphic design, commercial packaging, and character design, as well as global fan-based practices influenced by and influencing contemporary Asian popular cultures. And this list in no way exhausts our potential subjects.

Manga and anime are catalysts for the emergence of networks, fan groups, and communities of knowledge that extend the depth and influence of these works. The goals of this journal are to create new links between these different groups, to challenge hegemonic flows of information, and to connect a broad range of professional, academic, and fan communities, rather than accept their current isolation.

But our most essential goal is to produce and promote new possibilities for critical thinking, writing, and graphic design. We encourage authors from various backgrounds with diverse interests to write in a variety of formats and from a range of disciplines. We call on contributors not only to write across disciplinary boundaries but also to address readers in allied communities of knowledge. This means that all writers must present cogent and rigorous work to a broader audience. This goal will allow Mechademia to connect wider interdisciplinary interests and to reinforce these connections with strong theoretical grounding.

Each issue of Mechademia will have a theme to focus the discussion and reveal the connections between various perspectives, while still keeping the way open for new or unique analysis. We are currently accepting submissions for volume #4, the theme of which is War/Time. Possible topics include past and future conflicts, war and memory, animated violence and cinematic duration, millennialism and apocalypse, manga histories, heroic archetypes versus real histories, avatar wars, etc. This list is only a beginning: contributors are encouraged to interpret the topic broadly and contribute their own original perspectives. Superior submissions that fall outside the theme may also be considered if space permits.

The submission deadline for issue #4 is January 7, 2008.

Editors’ Statement for Mechademia 4: War/Time

In Japanese manga, anime, games, and related texts and fan cultures we group under the rubric of Art Mecho, war is so common that it seems impossible to avoid, and yet equally impossible to deal with adequately. In volume 4 of Mechademia, however, we hope to bring new attention to the implications of war in Japanese popular culture, which strikes us as crucial in a time of war. We aim to address not only the legacy of war in these texts, but also their odd affinity for warfare, the gravitation of popular culture in the orbit of modern conflict.

In addition to genres that explicitly deal with war, many manga, anime, and games address the effects of wars—their aftermath, their side effects, and their implications. These texts serve to remind us that one of the fundamental problems of modern warfare is a tendency not to remain in its place. Not only has modern warfare brought civilian populations within the scope of war, but the effects of war also spill over into all aspects of daily life. Often the world of Art Mecho is one in which the line between daily life and war becomes unbearably fine. Part of the challenge of these texts is their willingness to present both the dangers and the delights of living in a world mobilized for war. They thus afford contemporary viewers and readers a way to grapple with the profound ambivalence coursing through today’s industrialized and militarized societies.

In addition to exploring the terrifying sprawl of modern warfare and the militarization of daily life, these texts remind us that the tendency of modern warfare not to remain in its place has resulted in a transformation in how we think about time and history. On the one hand, the impact of war extends in time beyond what is supposed to be its site, its moment in time. There are the victims of war and violence, bystanders, perpetrators, and witnesses. As a nation with a history of war and empire, whose postwar legacy is at once demilitarization and complicity with American conflicts, Japan and its popular culture present a complex and challenging site for thinking about the impact of modern war on how we organize histories and think temporal relations. On the other hand, modern warfare pushes the limit toward global devastation in real time, mass destruction with the flip of a switch, in conjunction with new telecommand technologies that strive to shorten the time and distance of ballistic strikes.

All of these problematics associated with modern warfare have had a profound impact on manga, anime, and other forms of mass culture in Japan, and in hopes of grappling with the past and present of war, we solicit essays exploring a broad range of questions related to War/Time.

Questions arise about the history of manga, anime, games and popular culture. How has war become so prevalent in entertainment? How does war enter popular culture in Japan, and what impact does this have on postwar forms?

There are also questions about the writing of history and historical memory. How do Art Mecho texts reckon with Japan’s military past, with fascism and empire? How do they respond to the present situation in which Japan remains poised ambivalently between postwar demilitarization and calls for remilitarization?

Form, styles and themes also deserve attention. Does the temporality of pop cultural forms affect the way in which they present wartime, history, or the time of war? What is the impact of new military technologies on the imagination and expression of warfare?

Contributors are encouraged to consider these questions and these stakes as a starting point, but also to interpret the topic broadly and take their own original approaches to the topic. Texts considered need not be limited to manga, anime or games, and we seek contributions from a wide range of disciplines and perspectives.

Submission Format and Procedures

Articles should be submitted in electronic form, as Microsoft Word, RTF, or PDF documents. Email these as attachments to submissions@mechademia.org. Files larger than 5 MB should be sent through a file transmission service like
http://www.yousendit.com. Alternatively authors may send files on CD-ROM to Christopher Bolton, Mather House, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267.

Mechademia Essays should be approximately 5,000 words, plus citations. Shorter pieces are also welcome, and we will consider submissions in creative, non-traditional formats as well.

The name of the author should not be included in the manuscript file, and where possible the article should be free of identifying references such as “I have argued elsewhere…” Name and contact information should be included separately in the email that accompanies the submission.

Mechademia uses Chicago style documentation. Accepted pieces must be revised to conform with the citation and romanization guidelines in the Mechademia Style Guide, on the web site.

Mechademia encourages authors to include relevant illustrations, up to five black-and-white images per article. Color images may be possible with special permission from the publisher. In the case of copyrighted images or other copyrighted material, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain permission to reproduce the material, but authors need not have these permissions in hand at the submission stage. Note that screen grabs from films and anime, book covers and manga covers, and ephemera (including advertising) are considered fair use by the publisher; authors need not and should not seek permissions for these things.

Mechademia Style Guide

Download the Mechademia Style Guide (vers. 3.7) – pdf format

For questions about the submissions process, please contact the submissions editor:

Christopher Bolton
Associate Editor and Submissions Editor, Mechademia
Mather House, Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267
E-mail: submissions at mechademia.org

For other inquiries:

Frenchy Lunning,
Editor-in-Chief, Mechademia
frenchy@mechademia.org