– A short report by Saskia Dreßler –
The JVMG project was invited to give three presentations at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut) in Essen on March 25. Our visit took place as part of the Institute’s event series Guilty Pleasures and was coordinated by Ádám Havas. Under the overarching theme The Pleasures of Anime and Manga Fandom, Zoltan Kacsuk, Mathieu Mallard, and Saskia Dreßler presented excerpts of their research as well as the JVMG project itself.
After a brief introduction, Zoltan Kacsuk presented the Japanese Visual Media Graph (JVMG). He explained the project’s origins, the data sources used, and, through a Tiny Use Case, demonstrated how the JVMG knowledge graph can be applied in research.
Following this, Saskia Dreßler talked about the findings of her master’s thesis. She explored whether and where heteronormative narrative elements appear in German-language fan fiction featuring lesbian and gay characters, as well as how these elements manifest. Additionally, her research revealed how fans engage with the potential heteronormativity.
The final presentation of the event was given by Mathieu Mallard, a visiting researcher with the JVMG project, who outlined the key questions of his doctoral thesis, in which he investigates the struggles and development of artistic authorship in Japanese anime in the 1950s-1970s. The event concluded with a joint discussion session, providing the audience with an opportunity to ask questions about the individual presentations and the JVMG project.
All presentations highlighted the diverse ways in which the JVMG project can help support research and demonstrated that both qualitative and quantitative studies can benefit from it. In addition to the presentations, we had an opportunity to explore Essen and the KWI, as well as engage in discussions with an interested audience.
We would like to once again extend our sincere thanks to the KWI Essen, the organizers, and all the participants for this wonderful event.