Trevor week 6

According to Napier,how does this anime problematise traditional (or conservative) constructions of gender, class and race?

This anime problematizes traditional gender roles in a way by having a female hero, this differs from a Japanese older history. A history full of male centred characters of Samurai, Emporers, all male and all in charge, traditionally speaking anyway. By presenting a female centered character taking action it highlights the idea that females or indeed anyone can do anything, and at the same time outlines how sexist the world was and now represents the more equal opportunity world we live in today.
Similarly it does the same for race, the characters look almost look European even though they are existing in a surreal visually Japanese in clothing and style of how the scenary is drawn.I believe this may be done to offer a contrast with old Japan and the new age of a more multi cultural Japan. As for class it has the princess taking action,which I believe shows a contrast from the rulers staying at home while they send their own subjects out to the slaughter. According to Napier (2005), "Princess Mononoke problematizes archetypes and icons, ranging from the notion of the emperor's untouchability to the traditional iconization of the feminine, to create a genuinely new vision of a Japan at the crossroads of history. In some ways one might characterize the film as a violent, indeed apocalyptic, elegy for a lost Japan at the same time that it offers an alternative, heterogeneous, and female-centered vision of Japanese identity for the future."

Reference


Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.