Overview
Announcements/housekeeping: There is no class on TUESDAY, but your final paper prospectuses and due via email. Specific guidelines will be available online, but in 3-4 sentences, you need to explain what graphic novel you will be analyzing and why. If you plan to do the alternative assignment of creating a comic book, speak with Prof. Sample ASAP.
Final Papers:
- 5-7 pages in length
- Analyze one graphic narrative and explore how the unique visual grammar of the medium contributes to the underlying themes of the work
Expanded Blog Entry:
- Around 3 pages in length
- Expand one of your First Reader of Respondent entries into a coherent essay
Jeannie did her presentation on the meanings of names in Uzumaki and Catelin explored the genre of horror in her presentation. We then talked about the definition of manga, which led into a discussion Uzumaki before touching briefly on In My Darkest Hour again.
Highlights

Defining Manga
- Reading right to left is an adjustment!
- Driving cultural force in Japan
- Manga is apparently part of the reason the lieracy rate went up in Japan
- No stigma associated with it because everyone reads in in Japan
- Many different kinds of genres
- Has its own conventions
- A lot of aspect-to-aspect instead of action-to-action
- Absence of parents
- Supernatural, but no real superheroes
- You are born with powers, you don't really earn them
- Use of subjective motion/POV
- Typically black and white except for a few opening pages
Characteristics of Manga (from McCloud, Making Comics) -- Common Elements
- Iconic Characters
- The eyes are an exception
- A Strong Sense of Place (frequently including heavily detailed backgrounds)
- Frequent Use of Wordless Panels
- Genre Maturity
- Many genres (e.g. action/adventure, romance, sports, historical drama, comedy, etc.)
- Broad Variety of Character Designs
- Small Real World Details
- Various Emotionally Expressive Effects
- Montages
- Subjective caricatures
- Expressionistic backgrounds
Jeanie's presentation (Page 1)
- Meanings of names in Uzumaki
- Kirie- A great and powerful force or light
- Central role in the novel, a light being targeted and snuffed out by the spiral
- Shuichi- One lord or master
- Azami- Thistle flower
- Kurotani- Black Valley
- Nishiki- A tree with twisted bark
- Dragonfly Pond
- This is an ironic name because dragonflies are a symbol of good luck
- Names suggest predestination
- Nature-related characters and names fall under spiral's influence first
- As it grows stronger, the spiral can move from nature to manmade objects
- The town itself is predestined to suffer and spiral inward
Catelin's presentation
- The "Six Steps of Horror"
- Paranoia
- No Escape
- Obsession
- Obsession with the spiral and obsession with escaping it
- Obsession with self (egoism)
- Chaos
- Loss of Control
- Death
- Influence of H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror
- Cluttered, frenetic panels
- Obsession with eyes
- They are the window to the soul and it is therefore easy to see fear in them
- Eyes that are dark and accentuated are those affected by the spiral
- Skepticism in the face of the obviously supernatural
The Character of Kirie
- She is extremely passive, why?
- Since even her character is iconic, does this help the reader identify with her?
- Is this simply a cultural view of women?
- Is it part of the requirements of the horror genre?
Shuichi

- Shuichi provides an important counter dynamic from Kirie
- Shuichi understands to a certain degree what is going on and can explain things to the reader
- He is not oblivious to what is going on and provides the reader with a second point of view to relate to
- Shuichi gives the reader a feeling of being stuck because he knows he needs to leave but can't because of Kirie
What is the most disturbing image in the book?
- p.74 (psychologically)
- p.62 (because mukade actually exist)
- p.168 (misguided romance)
- p.104 (vagina dentata)
Uzumaki vs. In My Darkest Hour
- In Uzumaki, horror is manifested through obsession. An "inwards" acceleration towards the center of the spiral. Excessive focus and obsession.
- In IMDH, Omar's illness manifests its horror through dissolution, and disassociation. An "outwards" motion of unfocusing and loss of reality.
Keywords
Manga: Term coined in the 1930s that literally means "Japanese comic." A broad term that encapsuslates various genres (action/adventure, romance, horror, etc.).
Vagina Dentata: Lit. "Vagina with teeth." The fear, central to many horror narratives, of a female figure dominating and consuming a male character (literally or otherwise). (The most straightforward example of this trope in Uzumaki is Azami's consumption of Okada.) This concept may also appear symbolically through recurring images and themes.
Comments (4)
Nathalie Lawrence said
at 3:34 pm on Nov 21, 2009
Hey guys, so I left my notebook with ALL my notes in College Park. I'll get them back later today, but for now, I'll try to do what I can from memory.
Seth said
at 3:44 pm on Nov 21, 2009
I've got my notes- I'll try to put everything I can in.
Nathalie Lawrence said
at 4:04 pm on Nov 21, 2009
Great, thanks!
pierce said
at 9:40 pm on Nov 21, 2009
Rephrased a couple of things, like the last point noted for Catelin's presentation, for the sake of clarity. Added the common characteristics of manga we discussed from the McCloud book. Also, added content to the IMDH vs. Uzumaki heading and included a brief discussion of the concept of "Vagina Dentata." Somebody needs to fill in the heading about Kirie which was posted and left contentless(?) Not sure what to say about her, she's a typical passive female horror protagonist who seems to have little to no personality / self-drive. I'm sure feminists could have a field day with her.
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