Friday 25 October, 2024
5:00pm BST - 6:30pm BST
Dr Ryoko Matsuba will deliver a lecture as part of the Nissan Seminar series at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford.
Her lecture will examine the role of ‘format’ in the evolution of Japanese visual storytelling, tracing its development from the Edo period (1608-1868) to modern manga. Central to this discussion is the relationship between format and printing technology. She will explore how kusazōshi—Edo-period narrative fiction, characterized by its seamless integration of illustrations and text—serves as a precursor to modern manga. By focusing on the continuity of format, she will argue that children’s literary genres from the Meiji period (1868-1912) acted as a bridge, preserving the aesthetic and cultural practices of kusazōshi and establishing a lineage that connects Edo-period and modern visual storytelling.
Further information can be found on the Nissan Institute’s website (link below).
Images: Murui ponchi ebanashi (Peerless Punch Picture Stories). Maki Kinnosuke [Tokyo]. 1898. Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History.