Visualizing the self in comedic pathos: Japanese autobiographical manga at the limit of multiculturalism

Abstract

Since the 1960s, Japanese artists have utilized manga as an effective platform for life writing. In the twenty-first century the genre has visibly evolved around the theme of the transnational/cultural experience of each author, developing a significant size of readership and cultural market in Japan. One of the most prolific authors is Yamazaki Mari (1967–), whose fame is attributed to the success of her manga on comparative bath cultures, Thermae Romae (2008–13). On the other hand, artists of the previous decades used to create their autobiographical work after establishing a reputation for a number of masterpieces. This normative pattern became obsolete, and instead more recent artists have focused on their personal history and cultural experience to appeal to the contemporary readership. Yamazaki’s autobiographical manga, including Mōretsu Italia kazoku/Ferocious! The Italian Family (2006) and Italia kazoku fūrin kazan/The Italian Family, Serene but Daring (2010), prominently illustrates the formation of this emerging genre, reflecting the diversity of transnational/cultural realities that Japan faces today.