Emancipation in Postmodernity: Political Thought in Japanese Science Fictional Animation

Mari Nakamura  |  My PhD research project studies the intersections between animation and political thought. Specifically, it explores the ways in which the philosophical notion of ‘emancipation’, along with its related concepts such as ‘domination’ and ‘resistance’, have been conceptualised in Japanese science fictional animation. Considering animation as an expressive medium, and science fiction as a locus of thought experiments, the project seeks to examine how animation can develop and deploy various innovative ideas about the future of politics, and aims to identify its grammar of expression. The project explores alternatives to contemporary methods of studying political thought in popular culture.

Supervisors Prof. Chris Goto-Jones and Dr. Florian Schneider | Leiden University  | Goto-Jones VICI project: Beyond Utopia – New Politics, the Politics of Knowledge and the Science Fictional Field of Japan