ヽ≧Ч『ヽとヽ「

０ヽ≧ヽい

ヽＯＱ”≧ヽい０「ｎＯ≧〕」６

””製

くｏＦＰい。Ｚο・ｐ・曖”́〓●０】“

INTπRNA7'ONAL′OURNALOF COMIC ART

石ヽ01.13,No。 2,Fa11 2011

An lndependent Publication

164

�langa in �lalaysia:An Approach

to lts Current Ⅱybridiけ

through the Career ofthe Sh可 O �langaka Kaoru

Gan Sheuo】三ul

One of the most prominent s力 ″ο777α″gαたαl in Malaysia is Kaoru,a

young Chinesc― X/1alaysian artist、 vho uscs a Japancse pen namc and、 vh。

publishcs her、 vorks in the Malay languagc for a largely A/1alay audicncc stiH

atypical,thcse aspccts of Kaoru's work were unimaginablc in N/1alaysia a dc_

cade ago Kaom's、 vorks show an active fon■ of sclecting and transお rllling

diミtrcnt cultllral clclllents,or rnorc prccisely,dcmonstratc an altemative lom

of“ local identity"、 vithout an apparcnt“ local stylc''、 vhiCh is notcwOrthy in a

multicthnic socicけ such as Malaysia Fulthcrmorc,whcn Kaoltl's works arc

translatcd into English and Chincsc and cxportcd to Singaporc and China,hcr

Chinesc cthnicity,but not hcr Malaysian nationaliw iS emphasizcd(Fig.1)

liよ 111i∴::iT憲冨聰鷹絲■::l kl:|ム ■1彎ιt r,I:hed

165

ThiS paper eXanlincs her carecr,bcginning、 vith a ncccssaw considCration of

thc histOric translllission ofJapancse inanga and rclated rncdia products to thc

chinesC―�lalaysian community lt was this transmission that cstablishcd the

local audicnce which allowed a ncv/gcncratiOn of crcators with original

perSpCCtiVes tO ariSC An analysis Of this histOry suggcsts a nc、 v、vay of

looking at“ translnission''as a follll of apprOpriation fl・ om tlle outsidc rathcr

than a movemCnt that radiates fl・ om a ccntcr Finally,this papcr discusses

、vhether rnanga―based conlics crcatcd by and for、 vomcn may seⅣ c as an opcn

platfOrm for intcraction among thc complex cultural communities within

�lalaysia

The TransⅡ lission of Japanese �langa:

Departure from Pirated TailⅣ anese Editions

That the rnulticultural and multilingual rnix found in Malaysia has been

divided by racc,rcligion,and education since thc countら /'S indepcndcncc in

1957,rnakes it an intcrcsting model for an examination ofthc transmission of

Japancse manga Rcvic、 ving thc dcvclopmcnt ofrnanga stylc in Malaysia re¨

veals that thc usual idca of a translllission fl・olll thC Center to the periphc=y is

inappropriatc 2 Rathcr than a ccntral cultural source(Japan)cxpOrting a■ ifacts

for fbrcign consumption, it was thc forcign audience that sclcctcd what it

wanted frolll the sourcc and appropriated it for its own usc Historicaly,this

process of appropriation bcgan、 vith piratcd Chincsc-languagc versions of

Japancse manga from Taiwan that had been popular among the Chinese com―

munity inゝ /1alaysia sincc the 1980s,alongsidc otllcr Chinese― languagc conlics

fl・Om Mainland China,HOng Iく ong,and Taiwan This distinctivc routc for thctransmissiOn Of Japanesc manga to cOuntrics with Chinese― spcaking commu―

器謂憮)粘鵠鷺胤駄i』Ψ麟』∫騒∫Ъ怖器麗li

軍ド期寓∬:Fご思l翼野1器:胤服鼎淵∬棚轄蹴[

Ifl藷場MlII淋:11lJ[Ri:∬

:ll鼻l『:1翼:猟黒‖ll鷺罵lyI

す

サず′■．ケ藉滲ｔ

″′／●一ク″〃′

一炒

[職:椰島i椰椰∬研1職聯y

co�瀧:l鷺#麓:許胤黛iぶ鳥環鴇t翼二∬∫織総ぶ胤1詳]駕|

IJOCし4 Fα〃2θ′′

肘‐餞 ‐|

一

ASCし4,Fr/〃 2θ ′′

166

Sillgaporc and Hong Kong,whOSC drallla scrics produccd by TvB tind A、 itl

Tclcvision,1■ oviCS,and stars havc bCCn a part of cvcryday lifc liNr intll))N/1を ト

laysian Chincsc sillcc thc 1 980s

Within this languagc― cclltcrCd transmission of various lllcdia tぅ 1‐ ()(ltlct、 、Japancsc lllanga v/crc lound cspccially attractivc becausc ofthcil‐ ll1lilluc coll―

tclnporaneous scnsibilitics,nalTativc approaches,and drav〆 ing styics.、vhich

C0111pared favorably to collliCS iolll othCr Countrics Thcir t(llcshncss''was

cspccially visiblc whcn contrastcdヽ ハ/ith Chillcsc′ノα′7/1ι`α

′?/1ι ′α Or′″`′

″/111`′ that

adaptcd、vorks of classical litcrature such as「 /1`、 /ο

`77・

/1り'/rl`/1“

Iケを、r. f/′ ′でc.

κ′′7g`fO′7バ ,and H D″θα′"9/RC″

ル〆α″sブο″s Tllcsc tradi� onal itlcs wcrc O貴 cn

rccolanlllcndcd as constl‐ tlctivc readi1lg lllaterial bccausc oftllcil cし 1ltt11‐ al v〔lluc

HOng Kong comics,on thc othcr hand,such as O/″ ル

`ζ`ゞ

rc′・2(I_a()Fu Zl)by

ヽヽ4ong Chak and r/1c cヵ プ″c、 θゞ〃C′0(Chung― wah Ying hung)by Ma wing_

shing,3、vcrC gcncrally poptllar、 vith childrcn and youlng adults bllt tllcy、 ハ「crc

vic、vcd ncgativcly by many parcnts 4 0ther collliCSヽVitll philosophica1 0、 cl・

toncs or hul■ orous qualitics, such as thosc by Cai Zhi― zhong alld Zhtt Dc―

yong liom Taiwan,havc cllloyed a ccrtain populanty among thc litcrati,but

ncvcr forillcd a mass audicncc Thcse carlicr Chincsc connics plcliarcd thC

ground liVr thc appropriation alld intcgration ofJapancsc rnangそ l tllat grcldし Icllly

movcd bcyond thc basic Chinesc-languagc collncction of thc piratcd cditions、

sctting thc stagc for thc currcnt popularity of translatcd, as、 ハ/cil をls locally

prodtlccd,rnanga

“Ⅳ〔alaysia"in Offlcial �ledia and in``Ncbulous''Sl151o TⅥ anga

轟‖1椰淵鱗i僣業驀樹I�涌|‖‖麟思∫Ⅷ喘露職襦訛片1棚路lt‖ぶT,咄!Ⅷl

、vcbsitc dcincs it as fbHov/s:

Thcrc is ollly onc placc 、vhcrc a‖ thc colors, 1lavors、 SOt口 1(lS alltl Sigl,tS tlド

Asia conlc togcthcr― ―A/1alaysia No othcr co

raccs, Malay, Chincsc, Indian, plus various

1ltinlbcrs No、 vhcrc has such cxciting divcrsit〕

tions and custolllS,0ヾ cring lllyriad cxpcricncc

Asia'as Malaysia 'Malaysitl,Truly Asia'cap

ol｀ thc cottntry's t11liqし lc divcrsity lt st111ls tlp

ol Malaysia that inakc it an cxccptiona1 lourist clcStinati()11・

wh‖■:c翼鮮ll(11誕窯:Lirih習

1話翼慧llsl‖ ‖下il:1群:|∬乳

1′OCЧ ,晟γ//2θ //

|カ

Fig.2.T,vo pages from “Ncw 「 riends,'' an eight― pagc short comic included in

D″ is″た

'(2008).The 10Cation is supposed to be Kuala Lumpu■but this location

was not made explicit in the illustrations(pp.34-35).O Cempak 2011.

●軌リブ″ク′

|‐ || ,| |

`′

多アタ| ||:′ ||′ | ‐■

`‐

颯′

夢:猟 ,1=IIPageS flol“ :訴y,"an。 11:|:hi∴ co mた by K¨ lu ndidd in情i彙1:11品″琴lピ 1:[:ボ古Itiltttl∫ 11‖』

°思glyfttattin∬∬∫∫品‖

瞥]FttF:平 1・ ti:liltttlll:ISill∬ rlll湖 :1』‖富lll° li‖ ilLi:h:∬ illbtthけ 轟晨tttlttus｀ I鼎1ム

‖肌l TTぜ‖t出

さ)lT跳胤脱満I

167

μ穆鰊̈″一一一一一一一一一

′ノ

`'こ

14,√■γ′/2θ /ノ

Fig.4. Frlο r″ む σα/t″ Ao″ド′

,|■||■・‐■■■‐

|■・ ■

(2007:4-5).O Gelllpak 2011.

169168

statcnlcnt for tourisllo Othcr、 /cll― lClloヽVn adVCrtiscmcnts ol'tlnis killd al‐ c th(ぅ、c

that thc statc― o、vncd()il and gas collapany PETRONAS tlsually sp01ns01、 1。 bc

aircd dul‐illgllllorcCICbratiolls,such aslndCpcndcllcc Dayl Hari Raya Aidillll� l

thc CIhincsc Nc、 v Ycar and Dccpavali,thc festival oflights Thc c010「 c011lbilla_

■ons,sccnic localcs,andた stive atl■ oSphcre that arc juxtapOscd with cvcry

day lifc storics ofpcoplc ofdittfcrcllt cultural backgrounds arc vcry sclltilncn_

tal,yct、 cyc―catching and lllorc in dcpth than those by thc Toし lrisn1 01hcc「

It gocs、 vithout saying that thesc lllcdia― constrtlctcd inlagcs Of N/1alaysia、

Onc aiincd at forcigners and thc other at nativc vic、 vcrs,havc difncrclll agcll_

das Nonethcless,botll pr● cCt a dcsircd,idcalizcd multicthnic inlagc Ofヽ｀Maヽ

laysia''Evcn though tllcsc lllcdia prtDlcclons arc in coninual llux,thcy pr()_

vidc a contrasting backgrotlnd to tllc contclllporary vic、 v oft.c001 culttlrc｀ '

loulld ill most holllc― grOヽハ/nlllanga Kaom's、vorks,lor cxalmplc.ustl[llly lack〔 1

dclllitc locality,hcr narrativc scttings ottcn being imaginativc and alllbigl10us

ln Dα おι′府 (■ rSt publishcd in Malay in 2005),whiCh iS Cxpliclly sctin Malay� a's

capital Kuala Lumpur(commOnly known as KL),thc Cityscapc and clothing

strongly suggcst an illlagillaw KL that vagucly rcselllblcs Japan(Figs.2 and

3)ThcsC“ Japanesc''clcments arc blcndcd with local scnsibilitics,avoiding

riSqLl`faShion and othcr dcpictions that、 vould o∬Qnd thc llnOral standards o「

�lalaysian socicty,and thLIS illakillg this.(othcr''KL acccptablc to atlthoritics

conccnlcd、vitll ccnsorshipド

Kaoru in thc WIIalaysian Context:Achieving a Balance

betlⅣ een Chinese and ⅣIalay Readers while Elllp10ying

Japanese �langa¨ Style

rノて'こ

lH ′Fセ7/′ 2/1//

／′

暉

1楼

the pOpular iPhOne cOnfirnls thc story as a contcmporaryfantasy Of an imaginary FヽictOriall era (〕 Cenlpak 2011.

靭蹴:腸‖〕:}器」Rlllittil計肛驚よ渚賞黒誕ll:n審鴇i総〔

ニ

IJ()(Ⅵ ,ノ「``ノ

′2θ′′

170

糧r配蹴出膜鮮:驚意1就lttt雑樅λ肝糧ギはlnlalc rcaders across thc cthnic spcctlum

Dcspitc thc colllpany's Malay name,Kaoru's publishcr Gcmpak startz is

owned by cthnicaHy Chillcsc Malaysians Gθ771Pα たInagazillc,whOsc contcnts

avcragc 65 pcrccnt conlics,has a circulation of74,190 copics thrOughout Ma_

laysia(Alt Square Group,2010:without pagination)Fiiccll in_hOusc cOmics

altists(inCluding comics assistants)and 20 flcclanccrs cOntributc thcir wOrks

to the rnagazine on an il■ egular basis Kaoru has becn working forthc nlagazinc

sincc 2000 and is now considcrcd thcir lcading sh● o manga artist To datc,

shc has publishcd four titles in a one― volume book format, plus an cight_

volume manga sc� es(Fig.6)Hcr latCSt work,■ 4αブ″ルイαプ

"″,is an Ongdng

scrial

1,′

`|:!t,′`111■

|lil:`

:子 1=|;`||:,′ :

|1熊■■′,″漱:な ,■,t`解 ||.雛 ′=み″: 多t=|:,4,1タリ|“ |:′ |.:

´,′ ,″ .'tは :,■ ,´ ■|′″`1‐

||す舅||″

'|, ,多“|れ ,II,,11111 11tl l11 111:|′

i4'4″′`

||,11■ |,多 :′″` `111t′ `411J`″

4'″ {「

`,なtl′″4■ |′ ||れ ,1,● ■″

1141髯 ,''議 :1,■ , |れ

`機

,,:‐ ■J:虎 ″́:: ,多 :ll`',レ :た,`1● ,′ ,

171

Kao側 'S pOpularity is atypical in that it is largcly based On suppolt fl・ om

鰯 躍 l品電ll『:I嘔::蜜:‖電鼻 f111∬li∬:}1温l蹴 鳳 ∬ 胤 獣

COlllpttrCd t0 1iterature and fllnl,thc younger gcncration's exposurc to various

cOnlics cultures has shi■ cd their viewpointtowards thc lllcdium This younger

audicnce sceS COmiCS not only as a business,but as an cxciting mcdium of

young adults fOr expressing cmotions and lilbstylc.

SincC thC 1960s,thcrc has been a strongly contcl■ lporaw quality to thc

ねshiOn and dcsign clements in Jtapancsc manga,palticularly in shoJo or i―

male―orientatcd works ln Japanesc manga,there is a fastcr pacc of stylistic

changc COmpared to othcr comics availablc in Chincsc Whcn tccnagers in

NIIalaysia colllpare the non― Japancsc comics around them、 vith Japanese rnanga,

they ind a grcater a、vareness of curently popular intercsts and stylcs in thc

latter,while the others appear to be variations on oldcr approachcs that have

been slow to cvolve Kaom's interestin crcating shao manga rolllance nalla―

tives rcsponds to and beneflts flon■ this cmphasis on curentねshion Thcaudicncc feelsthcy can leam flonl hcr rnanga which inakes thcl■ look cool and

sophisticatcd

This tcndency can alsO bc obscⅣ cd in the work ofothcr Cθ 171pαたInaga―

zinc artists According to chief cditor Slaiunl,nonscnsica1/nonscnsc and hor―

Юrtogcthcrwith romancc hmlthc magazine'sthrcc malor gcnrcs 13 Nonsensi

cal cOnlics by in― hOuse fcmale artists Nishiki and Ncko arc targeted at prinlaw

誌尋計服儡惜=魃 姉 [ly庶,嚇:誦剛

尋ξsir[」:∫I縄晰鵠跳IF鞘沼眠i訛:ヽR薔l舅『躙駕ぶ曽;

髄 櫛 墨鷲 1鷲翼飾 ン鳳]I躙辮器

|ラ イ'■

||′″′

`ノ

プ|イ ″■′|プ ′,` ZI:′ タレ,i彼

,tl多名|′,1燿数を子ち11'''場

″ ル■1甕ザ:″ |

|″:. |

|●=,‐ケ響

“ 1熊 |17″ ,議 ″.

|`脅″11み" IL彰

凛II′ イ

`|"率

■,

ふ′‐|れ .′r41,″ f"脅 ,11r

`″

tタィに・`=瑳

:″

11`凛 111′

=議→lz

:痛 |タイ|“ ■ :`"′

'

||力・・イ・夕“

:“″ ,「 争`=:`'1楊

リケ″:牢

| :観 議",7,ι

l鷲4,|li

l :ヤ`|::7.

||,41■ 1´ ‐咤:ル 111ち 考↓予′́タイ

“

11

14,It″ :'1'■ :"1′ ::義 :″ 3111夕 1,41,|:|,

|■移=:′ ″■μ

“,「・′

Fig 6 A list of Kaortl's mallga

,|■ ||14,

■1,■,,■ :|:「 11■11":

:′ 彰1`″ :′ 11′ ,`=″

'′ '`′

11`' ′′11111お

=″′:'t'レ

'|`111111

″`フ

`||‐

14`1多 ■■||

tな 111ケ ,':|`,,112`1'r tl=1'1111:

′| |'あ |″ :‐ iみ′″‐t,考

IJOCIИ ,Fα〃2θ ′′

⌒

〃OCИ Fレ〃2θノ′

172

“Japan''for nlost ofher audicncc is an imagined spacc,rathcr an actual country

that can bc visitcd Prcciscly thcrcfore,JapanesC pen namcs are not likcly tO

incct any clllotional dcnial ln an intervicヽ V,Nishiki colllments that hcr usc ofa

Japancsc pen namc is mainly bccausc of the prcfercnccs of thc lllagazinc's

target groups ln othcr、 vords,clilllinating thc Chincscncss of hcr givcn nalnc

can attract rcaders or rclax conccms prompted by local cthnic cOnccrns FOl_

lo、ving this logic,Iく aoltl chOSC to writc hcr lincs in �lalay frolal thc bcginning

and have a prooicader go ovcrthcnl,instead of、 vriting il](3hinesc and having

ittranslatcd by the company latcr lt dcservcs attcntion that Kaoru's wOrks arc

originally crcated in Malay and only latcr translated into Chincsc and English

Slaiul■n also spoke about thc proccss of editing out narativc clcmcnts、 パ/hich

would appear too Chincse,and commcnts or jokes only undcrstandablc tO

Chincsc ハ、ltists as wcll arc cxtrcmely cautious to kcep thcir stories as cultur―

ally neutral as possible Whcn one flips through Kaoru's works,it is nOt diin―

cult to locatc places,signboards,or school unibrms which slightly l‐ cfcr t0

�lalaysia Such associations creatc a scnse of familiarity without gcncrating

too strong a scnse oflocality

ln othcr words,cmploying Japancsc rnanga stylc and inlaginaw nal■ ativc

settings that have apparcntly littlc to do、 vith thc rcality of �lalaysia prOvidcs

a comfortable platforlll to cntcrtain diversc audicnces As a rcsult,rcadcrs lcam

littlc about the artist's distinctivc cultural background ln Kaoltl's fourth vol―

umc ofi表?″οs Ecノ ″sθ ,thC f10nt covcr design cmploys Chincsc calligraphy in

the background,which is rarc and visually attractivc ltis noncthclcss obvious

thatthosc clcmcnts arc inercly decorativc withoutsuggesting any dcCperlllcan―

踊 s漁 蹴 灘

i盤

:|∬i瀧iTR既 貯 譜 鳳 黒 讐 冊 :∬:I∫ ::li]

■30Ct4,fb//2θ ノノ

173

1∬ぶ∬1鷺「¶囃ilき榊f∬織lIぱ::ltW:irtti:l∬l

rcgard tO dCpiCtiOns ofromantic situations contributcs to thc appcal ofKaol■l's

wOよs

Fig.7.Book cover of,α Js″ 力′(2008)that becamecontroversial becausc of its sexiness.()Gempak 2011.

Concluding Thoughts

′,SC14 Frr′′2θ ノノ

174

and cvcntually cmbracc onc another's dil~fercnces 1́lthough itis stin tOo s。 。nto knottЪ thc、ハ/ork OfKaoru,a lnainstream fcmalc(]hinese �lalaysian altist,wh。

publishes in Malay,suggcsts that it rnay bc possiblc

h∝cly識 ,礼程 [1肥 需Л 胤『

謂:駅 詭「 川 器 織 官∬In hcr、 vork and that ofhcr compatriots,aspccts ofJapanesc rnanga culturc arc

uscd to crcatc imaginary placcs that providc a spacc、 vhich is rclativcly ti cc()f

thc cthnic tcnsions of everyday life This is signiflcant bccausc Malaysia's

colnplex situation can casily lead to a biascd rcading ofrccognizablc 10calitics

As rnulticthnic coll1lllunitics arc incrcasingly bcconling thc nOrm arOund thc

world,the qucstion arises whcthcr Japancsc manga sサ le may ilnctiOn as a

cross―cthnic space for fan comlnunitics in countrics such as Francc,tllc unitcd

Statcs,and so on,as wcll

Thirdly,shclJo stylc manga wol・ lcs by crettors such as Kaoru prOvidc an

cspccially cffcctivc way to rcach a cross― ethnic fcmale audicncc in N/1alaysia

Romancc and fashion sccm to be cspccially suitcd for thc crcation ofa fこ lllalc

space,sincc thcsc stereotypical themcsお r girls havc thc potential()f casily

cscaping the attcntion ofrnalc authorities and ccnsors Fan productions、 vhich

are vcry close to BL― rclatcd dolinshiin Japan call bc found onlinc or at comics

markets,and they suggcst that femalc manga culturc indccd cxists without

dra、ving llltlch oficial scrutiny ln regard to Malaysia,this calis fbr compari―

sons betwccn thc cross ethnic popularity of shao inllucnccd comics and

h/1alaysian collDics intluenccd by othcr genrcs of lllanga or by collliCS from

other countrics

Finally,Kaolll's Malaysian comics rcveal hcr appropriation ofaspccts Of

Japancsc manga to attract local intcrcst, but thcsc aspects 1lavc not bccn

pronlotcd by Japan Discussions ofintcrcultural translllission nccd to includC

this idca of appropriation which is quitc diffcrcnt fl・on■ thc idca of ovcrscas

promotion by Japan 15 1tis also di二 trent ti・ om thc idea ofcultural cxChangc as

Malaysian contents arc not going to Japan As Japancse busincss intcrcsts

havc long sprcad throughout 2ヽ sia sccking consumcrs for Japallcsc productS

and establishing ovcrseas oficcs and factorics for Japancse colllpaniCS,thCrc

has been a tcndcncy to vicw thc popularitv of Japancse l13anga stylC as s0111C―

′ノθC‐ 4.Frrノ/2θ′/

175

衛要墨I棚嚇思∬i獲驚灘i廿鱗IOfinqui[yヽ VhiCh arc ofconccrn to a global audicncc

/`た″θW′θセ`“ `″

′/wο夕″ノル ′ο`朽θ″css″ηg″α″′″″υ′οP/`ノυssο″力9″θノブ″ピ

β`′

′グ′げ約ο′θ&′たα助ブッピパブヶ_ル カθ″c′′′たα′r`α″ブ″g″ ′力″α′α″″

`θ

′s′″17`′ブツ`Sν

gg`s′ノο71S

Endnotes

l The tCmls力 ″ο777α″gα肋 ,orshaO manga al■ ist,is widcly uscd in Malaysia,

espeCially among fans(bOth Chincsc and Malay)refcl■ ing to altists who adopt

mallga styL and thc sllolo gcnrc2 1n this papcr,“ rnanga style''rcfcrs to thc so― cancd story l■langa as ftllned in

Japan,While``colnics''is used as a gcncral tcrm br all solls of scqucntial

pictorial stow―tClling

3 A notc on thc order ofthe nalncs:Chincsc and Japancse names are given in

thc domestic ordcr,sumamc appcaring bcお rc givcn namc4 Thc criticism atthattime was directed attllc adult humOrin O′ ″ノイαsた″2,as、vell as the violence found in Zみ

`Chブ/1asθ Hc″ο �luch ofthe resistancc,how―

cver,camc fl・om thc stereotypical conception ofpictorial sequential ai as cul―

turany insigniflcant rnaterial for children Fulthcr inforlllation on thc ban on

HongIくOng cOnlics in 1970s Singaporc and Malaysia can bc found in John zヘ

Lel■t,cd Pク″Dθ /Jlο″s(1999)The cventllal acccptancc ofJapancsc manga bymany parents emcrgcd in concc■ with thc“Look East Policy,''initiatcd by thc

Malaysiall gOvcmmcntin 1981 The o面 cialintcllt was to lcam iom Japall(and

Korea)in regttd tO nation― building.In this context,lllanga,although not con―

瀧 肺

獣 麟 WT聯 滲 蠣 1懲

一

iア(9こA,Fr/〃 2θノノ

176

′クノsプα and Pθ“

たDα′″′κα″“″WCrC COnSidCrcd prc」 udicial tO public ordcr

and banned undcr thc Printing PressCS alld Publicationsノ ヘct(PPPA)In this

instance, Zunar's cartoons that rcVCaled a speciic locality and cOnfrOntcd

authorities、 vith his caricatures unavoidably faced closc exanlinati01l by thc

govcmment9 Gθ

777Pα たiS a bi― nlonthly h/1alay― languagc information magazine laullched in

1998 and also thc abbrcviated name ofitS publisher Gcmpak Staltz,、 vhO、vas

the irst comics publisher in �lalaysia to employ li11ltime in― hOusc altists and

prOvidc thcm with a rnonthly salary,as wcll as additional bonus Gθ ″ちυαたalsO

activcly rccrtlits ncwcomcrs iolll tillllc to timc as comics assistants、 vitll thc

talcnted ones gradually being upgradcd to lilll― llcdged comics altists Gθ ′フψα/t

is undcr thc lnanagcment ofthcノヘ■Square Group,、 vhich also lnanages cight

othcr inagazines printed in �lalay,English,and Chinese and is said tO be Onc Of

thc largest and most pr01iic publishers of colllics and infotainmcnt― rclatcd

materials in Malaysia today Thc´ 、1l Square Group consists ofノ rヽt Squarc

Creation Sdn Bhd,Alllung Taipan Sdn Bhd,Gala Unggul Resourccs Sdn Bhd,

and Gcmpalt Startz Sdn Bhd.A Singapore branch callcd A■ Squarc Crcation(s)

Pte Ltd、vas cstablishcd in 200810 Kaoltl's favorite lnangaka include rclativcly unconvcntional altists such as

Ono Natsume and Yoshinaga Fumi Kaoコ■also notcd thatlnoue Takchiko had

憫殷驚l糧轟肌理1濯冊:I�l驚謂I」紺亀Ⅷh‖and httd to undcrstand''(PopCOm,2009:without pagination)1l Personal inten/ie、v with Slaiunl,thc chief cditor of Gθ″′αた,and the feinlale

撚瑕茸滸鯨蠍錨轟警[鮮:[難棺#慧jl濃漁 ぶ柵里Ⅷふlξl稔縄計鴛}:lttic脚∝試re

Zint(a male comics allist)is quitc popular as wcll

〃θCし4,F47〃 2θ ″

177

難firi沈鸞鷺」11恵17基織牌鷲貫J椰鄭盤茸繹囃1舘than by cultural expollation

References

Ai SquarC Group 2010 Pamphlct on publication profllcs and advcrtiscmcntratcs

Bch,Hartlllli 2003“ Globalization Thco7■om tllC Bo■ omUp:Japall's Contri―

bution"υttψα″“`Sr17清 `s23(1):3-22

Kaorll,Neko,Nishiki,Slailllll.2010 Unpublishcd intcn/icws and group discus―

sion with Cran Sheuo Hui,Bandar Tasik Selatan,Ktlala Lulllpur,Ma―

laysia,Dec.23

Lent,Jollll A 1999.``Conlics Con仕 oversics al■d Codcsi Rcvcrbcrationsin Asia"

In Pν″ Dθ 7790′S 177′ θ′κα′ブ0″α′D′ 777θ″Sプ 0″S9/」/1θ Pο SFltα″И刀′た

C0771ブの Cα 771pα ブ,η ,edited by John A Lent,pp.179-214 NJ:FairlcighDickinson University Press

Lcnt,John A 2010.“Mangain East Asia"Inル 4αんgα ИηИ″r/7οわν げ G′οろα′

α77″ C″ルタ″α′Pθ rspθε′ノνas,edited by Toni Johnson―Woods,pp 297-314.Ncv√ York:Continullm.

Lim,Cheng TJu.“Lcst Wc Forgct:Thc lmpoltancc ofHistow in Singaporc alld

Malaysia Conlics Stlldies''In C′ οbαノMa″yS′ 17″′as 1/a′ ′r Cο/77JCS

″b′′αs&′ヵθ ЙZう′ノ″9/｀ Cο“たS17♭ wα

“αs■力ο7r7パカ″ο′αG′οわα′

Sc・α′θ,cditcd by Jaqucline Bcmdt,pp 187-199 Kyotol lntemationalMalaga Rcscarch Ccntcr

:∬淋鋼 鞘 掘∫�l農器 響ittrT嵐器

黎鸞憑姉轟IメOCし4,Frr′′2θ′′

178

1ccturcr in the Manga Faculty at lく yoto Seika Univcrsity and a rcsearchcr fOr

thc Japan Subculmre sttldics.Her rcscarch intcrcsts include thc intcr_disci_

plinary conncctions betwecn manga,anilne,and livc― action ilms Shc is alsO

cxploring cOnncctiOns tO Japancse rnanga and anilllc in the works Ofsoutheast

Asian altists She has prcscntcd papers on her rescarch in Japan, Canada,

Unitcd Kingdonl,Greccc,Soutll Korca,Tai、 van,and Singapore

r」aCし4,Frr″ 2θ ′′ 」θCИ,F/7〃 2θ ′′

179

Wolllen“ Using �langa tO Tell Local Stories":

Aミ、rkshop On the``Glocality"

of�langa in sOutheast Asia

Angela �10reno Acosta

Mangat has gained an imprcssive amount of popularity in thc Unitcd

StatCS and Europe,palticularly among young women and girls For somc of

thcsc womcn and girls,whosc only intcraction with conlics had been、 vith the

malc― dominatcd worlds of supcrhcro collliCS, it was the flrst tilne they

cncountercd v/orks that offcrcd a fcmalc pcrspcctivc This experience

cncouragcd inany to aspirc to bc profcssionals in thc conlics busincss,Inany

Ofthcm hoping to work spcciflcally inthc mangaindustw Lcaming ofwomcn

in Japan who had flourishing carccrs madc thclll rcalizc that comics wcrc

dcflnitely not a``boys only club''The sprcad ofrnanga's inllucncc ovcrscas,

among female readers in particulat and the subsequent rise of womcn as

manga artists was precisely what the conference“ Women's Manga beyondJapani Contcmporary Comics as Cultural Crossroads in Asia"(National

Univcrsity of Singaporc,Fcbrtlaw 20H)wiShCd to addrcss As part of this

contrcncc,a、 vorkshop titlcd“ Using Manga to Tcll Local Storics''was hcld,

in orderto explore manga's“ glocaliサ "(apOrtmalltcau of“global''alld“ local''),

or more precisely.the ways in which manga as a cultural product that is

consumcd on a global scale,is appropriated and used by altists on a local

scalc ln an attcmpt to dclvc into this, as、 vell as the issue of、vomen's

authorship,、ve held a panel discussion、 vith flvc invited female conlics altists,

wherc linteⅣ icwed them(■ rstin tum,later as a group)On stage in fl・ ont ofthc

prcscntcrs and gucsts ofthc confcrcncc 2 Thc f。 1lo、ving is a report ofthosc

intcllriews,discussions and flndings

``Glocality"of �langa

Up to now,most of the research on manga's globalization has bcen

focuscdmainly onrcadcrs andthcirfandoms 3 1fthc altistsbccollac tlle suoject

of rescarch,critics often point out ho、 v their inanga are global but not rcally

localin tems ofcontents.This bccamc cvidcnt、 vhcn in Dcccmber 2009,atthe

lStlntcrnational Conircncc on conlics and inanga at the Iく yoto lntemational

Mallga Muscum,comics c� tic Lim Cheng T」 u4spOke abouttllc currcnt situation

in Singapore and Malaysia,strcssing the impoltancc ofhistorical referencc in

regards to contents He argued that、vithout a sensc ofhisto■ y,thc work loses

its rclation to social rcality,as``we arc prbducts Of our own expcricncc and