Reviving Classical Figures in Japanese Comics

Back To The Future: Classical Figures In Comics 287

Chapter 13 Back to the Future: Classical Figures in Comics Back to the Future: Reviving Classical Figures in Japanese Comics

Carla Scilabra

The aim of this chapter* is to investigate how Classical heritage1 is perceived and depicted in Japanese comic production. Manga series represent a particu- lar type of comic production which first appeared immediately after the Sec- ond World War and then grew – in a fairly progressive process – until it had reached almost every corner of the world.2 Nowadays, the manga phenomenon can be considered a central form of Japanese pop-culture expression, both in terms of the value system, themes, and worldview that it represents, and in the way in which it is widely diffused among different demographics. Simulta- neously, manga can also be seen as a global trend, thanks to the favor it has gained in different countries throughout the years.3 In order to analyze this process, this study will consider elements from the Greco-Roman historical and cultural heritage that appear in these comics and how they are represented, before focusing on a more intricate question that, although it might seem thorny, could lead to a more complete understanding

* This article uses the Hepburn Romanization system for the transliteration of Japanese names and words. Japanese authors’ and characters’ names are indicated with the given name fol- lowed by the family name. 1 In this work the terms ‘Classic’ and ‘Classical heritage’ will refer exclusively to the ancient Greek and Roman cultural heritage, including under this definition both the myths and the history that concern these cultures. 2 The birth of kindai manga (lit. modern manga, which is essentially what the world indentifies with manga itself) is conventionally identified by scholars with the publication of Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island) by Osamu Tezuka in 1947; while I do not provide here a complete analysis of such a complex phenomenon, I reiterate how this production grew constantly over the following decades, with the creation of new genres targeting different kinds of audiences (Bouissou 2010: 24–28; Kinsella 2000: 28–29; for an overview of the different stages of this development, see also Di Fratta 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; about the creation of new genres, see also below, notes 41 and 49). 3 Regarding the diffusion of manga and anime outside Japan, see the considerations presented by Mouer and Norris 2009: 361–365; Bainbridge and Norris 2010: 239–242; and Ito 2012: xi.

of these works: Where exactly are these topics taken from, and via which route did they reach the mangaka’s4 pencils? To be sure, this study is not the first one to try to show the reception of the Classics in manga production;5 however most of the essays published until now have not focused closely enough on the ways in which the reception of the Classics traveled. In addition, with the exception of a recent contribution focused on anime – Japanese animated production, often inspired by manga production – presented by Maria G. Castello and myself at the Imagines III conference held in Mainz in September 2012,6 the previous literature seems to underestimate the role that Japanese traditional and pop culture play in the creative process of these works. However, as we will see on the following pages, the influence of the local culture plays a pivotal role in the construction of the Classical past and how it is seen by Japanese cartoonists and their audiences. As has been frequently noted in literature, a study of ‘Classical reception’ should not only focus on noting or counting the recurrence of Classical elements in modern media or concentrate on identifying supposed ‘mistakes’ – meaning philological or iconographical inaccuracies – in the representation of such topics. On the contrary, its role should be to analyze the ways in which shreds of the Greco-Roman past have been perceived and ‘translated,’ as well as how they are interlaced with the culture that depitcs them. It is a process of construction that leads to something which is not just a mere echo or enact- ment, but something completely new, generated by the interaction between the issue received and the receiving culture.7 Therefore, in this study we will first try to analyze which sources influenced the mangaka and to identify precisely when Classical heritage made its first appearance in the Japanese comic industry. The chapter will then offer an overview of the use of Classical figures in manga imagery in an attempt to shed light on how its evocation of the Greco-Roman past can be considered highly

4 The word mangaka describes a manga artist, mainly meant as a professional figure who cre- ates both the story and the drawing for the comic, as the suffix -ka applied to the term manga implies a complete mastership of the whole creation process (about the world of Japanese mangaka and how they interact with the manga industry, see McCarthy 2006: 14). 5 For an overview of the reception of the Greco-Roman heritage in Japanese comics and animated production, see Amato 2006; and Hernández Reyes 2008. Some interesting consideration about this phenomenon can also be found in Theisen 2011: 59–60, 62, 67; for a study that takes into consideration the role of the local culture in the construction of the image of the Classical past in Japanese pop culture, see Castello and Scilabra 2015. 6 Castello and Scilabra 2015. 7 On this matter, see Carlà 2015: 8–9.