{"title":"Gothic Doubling and Fractured Identity in Shōjo Manga: Yuki Kaori’s Angel Sanctuary","authors":"Tosha R. Taylor","doi":"10.3366/gothic.2023.0177","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Despite enjoying a global fandom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Yuki Kaori’s manga series Angel Sanctuary (1994–2000) has received little consideration in studies of the Gothic. Yet the manga presents Gothic scholars with rich opportunities for locating manga, and particularly shōjo (young girls’) manga, within its own Gothic tradition. Steeped in global religious imagery, Angel Sanctuary uses incest, genderbending, and fractured identities to explore trauma and to critique the cross-cultural hegemonies that produce it. This essay considers the relationship between the Gothic and gendered identity in Japanese girls’ comics and investigates its manifestations in the manga’s depictions of incest, twins, and traumatic formations of the doppelgänger. In doing so, the essay locates Yuki’s work alongside the Female Gothic and argues for the increased inclusion of manga in Gothic scholarship.","PeriodicalId":42443,"journal":{"name":"Gothic Studies","volume":"13 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gothic Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3366/gothic.2023.0177","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite enjoying a global fandom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Yuki Kaori’s manga series Angel Sanctuary (1994–2000) has received little consideration in studies of the Gothic. Yet the manga presents Gothic scholars with rich opportunities for locating manga, and particularly shōjo (young girls’) manga, within its own Gothic tradition. Steeped in global religious imagery, Angel Sanctuary uses incest, genderbending, and fractured identities to explore trauma and to critique the cross-cultural hegemonies that produce it. This essay considers the relationship between the Gothic and gendered identity in Japanese girls’ comics and investigates its manifestations in the manga’s depictions of incest, twins, and traumatic formations of the doppelgänger. In doing so, the essay locates Yuki’s work alongside the Female Gothic and argues for the increased inclusion of manga in Gothic scholarship.
期刊介绍:
The official journal of the International Gothic Association considers the field of Gothic studies from the eighteenth century to the present day. Gothic Studies opens a forum for dialogue and cultural criticism, and provides a specialist journal for scholars working in a field which is today taught or researched in academic institutions around the globe. The journal invites contributions from scholars working within any period of the Gothic; interdisciplinary scholarship is especially welcome, as are studies of works across the range of media, beyond the written word.