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Sekai-kei as Existentialist Narrative: Positioning Xenosaga within the Genre Framework.

Thomas, Stefanie
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397573383

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
The term sekai-kei (“world-type”), a genre of subcultural narrative whose defining characteristic is the omission of a mediating social dimension between individual characters and an apocalyptic large-scale situation, has come to be used as a tool of cultural criticism pertaining to young adults of the mid-90s to the mid-2000s. Within this critical discourse, the exclusion of society in such works is frequently connected with the rise of problematic phenomena within Japan while the genre was at the height of its popularity, among them the increase in hikikomori (“shut-ins”) and youths not seeking careers or education. Critics claim in this context that sekai-kei narratives affirm social withdrawal and refusal of maturity, citing the postmodernist loss of a shared societal “grand narrative” as being evident in these works. In this study, I will examine the definitive sekai-kei narratives Saishuu heiki kanojo (“Final weapon girlfriend”), Iriya no sora, UFO no natsu (“Iriya’s sky, summer of UFOs”), and Hoshi no koe (“Voice of a star/Star’s voice”) alongside the sekai-kei prototype Shin seiki evangerion (“Gospel of a new century”/Neon Genesis Evangelion), utilizing an existentialist hermeneutic approach, and demonstrate that these narratives unanimously reject withdrawal. Furthermore, I will present Xenosaga, a sekai-kei work explicitly making use of existentialist philosophical concepts, and illustrate the fact that a grand narrative, namely that of existentialist freedom being contingent on personal responsibility, can exist within the sekai-kei genre.
Kerim Yasar (Advisor)
Richard Torrance (Committee Member)
193 p.
Asian Literature
Japanese culture; otaku culture; subculture; fictional narratives; genre criticism; Neon Genesis Evangelion; sekai-kei; Saishuu heiki kanojo; Hoshi no koe; Iriya no sora UFO no natsu; Xenosaga; existentialism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Thomas, S. (2014). Sekai-kei as Existentialist Narrative: Positioning Xenosaga within the Genre Framework. [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397573383

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Thomas, Stefanie. Sekai-kei as Existentialist Narrative: Positioning Xenosaga within the Genre Framework. . 2014. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397573383.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Thomas, Stefanie. "Sekai-kei as Existentialist Narrative: Positioning Xenosaga within the Genre Framework. ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397573383

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1397573383
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
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