Call for Papers – Transnational Perspectives on Anime: A Symposium, in collaboration with Japan Foundation London
Location: Lancaster University
Date: July 4th 2025
Anime studies has become a significant area of investigation with exponential growth throughout the 21st century and more specifically the past decade. Scholars with diverse backgrounds, including film studies, Japanese studies, media studies, and history, have investigated the proliferation of animated texts from Japan to a high degree of success, and journals like Mechademia and the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies have further established the presence of this field.
This symposium seeks to gather a range of perspectives on anime’s transnational qualities for discussion. This is open to a plethora of interpretations, from the formal qualities of particular films or series to the industrial side of distribution and consumption and established and emerging fan cultures.
This symposium, co-hosted by Dr Zoe Crombie and Japan Foundation London, invites speakers to share current research and ideas that constitute transnational perspectives on anime, broadly defined as Japanese animation but also with ties to products like manga, video games, and web series. The symposium will also feature talks from two renowned keynote speakers: Professor Rayna Denison, and Dr Jonathan Clements.
Academics at all career stages (postgraduates and early career researchers encouraged) are invited to submit an abstract of up to 250 words. Some potential topics are listed below, but are far from exhaustive:
- The exhibition and distribution of anime in global contexts
- New approaches to transcultural aesthetics
- Studies of the anime ‘media mix’
- Formal analyses of particular texts
- The integration of British culture into Japanese texts
Papers will be organised into panels by theme – interested participants will also have the opportunity to submit papers as conference proceedings afterwards in a collaboration with the Journal of Anime and Manga Studies. The symposium will be free to attend, but spaces are limited and registration in advance is required for all participants and attendees. More details will follow, and registration will open in June.
Speakers should send abstracts of no more than 250 words to Dr Zoe Crombie at z.crombie@lancaster.ac.uk – the deadline to submit is the 28th of May at 12pm BST and applicants will hear the outcome of their submission by the end of the month. Applicants can present their work online on request – however, attendance in person is encouraged where possible so connections between scholars can be well established.
