Manga, Animé y prácticas culturales: una experiencia con jóvenes de San Francisco

Abstract

Manga and anime have been objects of global cultural consumption for 30 years. They no longer belong only to Japanese culture. For this reason, there are communities of fans of these products around the world who feel identified with their attributes and with the stories they convey, and who also celebrate the values ​​of said hobby in various ways in public and private spaces.

The paper aims to explore the communicational dimension of the phenomenon based on its dynamics in the community of young fans of the otaku subculture in the city of San Francisco, Córdoba, Argentina. There is a community of fans with general characteristics of the subculture, but also with particularities coming from the local idiosyncrasy, which make up the focus of the study.

As a methodological approach, a qualitative strategy was chosen: semi-structured interviews with member fans, observations at events, and virtual ethnography on social networks. In the theoretical perspective used for the analysis, a sociotechnical approach was combined with categories from cultural studies and with the historical development of oriental cultural media and products, particularly the phenomenon of manga and anime in Latin America, with the aforementioned local approach.