University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2014 The Great Mirror of Fandom: Reflections of (and on) Otaku and Fujoshi in Anime and Manga Clarissa Graffeo University of Central Florida Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. STARS Citation Graffeo, Clarissa, "The Great Mirror of Fandom: Reflections of (and on) Otaku and ujoshiF in Anime and Manga" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4695. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4695 THE GREAT MIRROR OF FANDOM: REFLECTIONS OF (AND ON) OTAKU AND FUJOSHI IN ANIME AND MANGA by CLARISSA GRAFFEO B.A. University of Central Florida, 2006 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2014 © 2014 Clarissa Graffeo ii ABSTRACT The focus of this thesis is to examine representations of otaku and fujoshi (i.e., dedicated fans of pop culture) in Japanese anime and manga from 1991 until the present. I analyze how these fictional images of fans participate in larger mass media and academic discourses about otaku and fujoshi, and how even self-produced reflections of fan identity are defined by the combination of larger normative discourses and market demands.