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Cross Cultural

Page history last edited by sjb063000@... 11 years, 11 months ago

Cross Cultural Studies is the comparison of works in a specific art form from one "culture" the works of the same form from another "culture." Cross culturalism, important to comics studies, is the study of art of different cultures interacting and influencing each other.

Background

 

The comparative study of culture dates back to the 10th century, where Ai Biruni, or Alberonius, wrote a book on comparing religions. Several other efforts over the centuries followed, but most were written as comparing Western cultures to more "primitive" cultures, with a bias to the former. The first modern surveys of cross cultural studies came when George Murdock documented all the known cultures at the time in 1957. His series of books concentrated on statistical figures, but it paved the way for more studies and papers on cross-culturalism.

 

Underlying Assumptions

 

The first assumption of cross cultural studies is that works are not made in purely one culture, that cultural interaction exists, no matter when or where the work was produced.

Cross culturalism studies primarily those authors or works that do not easily fit into one cultural tradition. 

Cross cultural studies assume that a serious cultural divergence must occur for a study to be done. ex. Coming to America might hold more value in cross cultural studies than Annie Hall, though each deal with the idea of culture shock.

It is distinct from multiculturalism because it deals with separate divergent cultures, not combinations of cultures within one single culture.

Types of Questions

 

1. What cultures are interacting? What qualities do the cultures have? Are they similar or radically different?

2. What kind of conflict is at work between the two cultures? Conflict always arises in some form when two cultures meet. 

3. What new insights into both cultures are offered?

4. What traditions does the work come from? How has it changed those traditions, or created a new one?

 

Objects of Study

 

The first area of study is the artists themselves. Many artists either have different ancestries, like many American creators, or they move from one place to another to work, ex Alan Moore. The difference in culture and ideas creates a new environment to work in and begins to shape different kinds of art.

 

The next area of study is the work itself. Comics can be divided into many kinds of genre, and the list increases when comics from a different culture are included. Academics look for specific styles and archetypes to identify influences from other cultures. For example, Japanese manga differs from Western comics (mainly US and UK) in the different genres they contain. An academic would note the qualities each genre has unique to itself and determine what genre the work was from, then he/she would gather from what cultures the work was from because of their assessment of its genre.

 

The final area of study is tradition of the culture and its art. TS Eliot says that the tradition of art allows new art to become great and classic art. Tracing the tradition of art relates it to past works that have influenced the work and offers insight into the culture and how it has developed through its art. This method also helps the academic place the work firmly within a cultural tradition and its importance to literature.

Methods of Analysis

 

Comparative analysis of literary works internally and externally in their cultures.

 

The first part is to understand and asses the culture/s that are being studied. Understand why comics (in this case) are important, or why they are not. For example, Franco-Belgian comics are considered serious art, while American comics are not. Look at the methods in which comics are created. How are auteur comics developed differently between different cultures? Look at the history of the art form in the culture. What are the most important works in the comics scene in Great Britain? What made them important? Look at potential areas where the art form could grow. What new directions will manga take in the next few years.

 

The second area to look at is in comparing cultures and their respective art forms. As an example lets look at manga and American comics. We know that Osuma Tezuka was heavily influenced by Disney Comics that he read when he was young. Tezuka in turn, influenced nearly all manga artists that came after him. In cultural studies, the scholar looks at why this influence happened and how it changed the art form. Continuing with the analysis, manga in turn influenced American comics, beginning in the 1980s, and the exchange continues today. It is the scholars job to decipher and dissemble the pieces of manga and American comics from each other and understand what qualities are similar and why they are the qualities that are shared. This is also where cross culturalism comes into play.

 

The final step looks at the artist. Grant Morrison is originally from Scotland, and comes from a British background, but he primarily writes in American comics. The scholar asks what makes Morrison's work different and what ideas from other cultures does he bring. The scholar must also find out why these ideas works and why others do not.

 

Bibliography

 

  • Akira
  • Tintin
  • Astroboy
  • Captain Britain
  • Watchmen
  • Bleach
  • any comics involving Alpha Flight
  • Kaliman 

 

References 

 

  1. Duncan and Smith, The Power of Comics . pages 291-314
  2. Peterson, Comics Studies Reader. pages 163-171
  3. Kern, Comics Studies Reader. pages 236-243
  4. Ogi, Comics Studies Reader. pages 244-251
  5. Eliot, TS. Tradition and teh Individual Talent

 

Further Reading

 

 

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