Being Alice in Japan: performing a cute, 'girlish' revolt

Monden, M

Being Alice in Japan: performing a cute, 'girlish' revolt

Monden, M

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Japan Forum, 2014, 26 (2), pp. 265 - 285
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Monden, M https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5672-5279	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Japan Forum, 2014, 26 (2), pp. 265 - 285	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0955-5803	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30494
dc.description.abstract	There is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character Alice of Lewis Carroll's famous children's books. Perhaps reflecting the 'enigmatic' sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertively sexualized 'Lolita'. However, Alice can also be perceived as an emotionally flat yet autonomous character. My article explores this reading of the heroine, which is notable in the context of Japanese culture. In aspects of contemporary Japanese popular culture, for instance, the idea of 'Alice' embodies the idealised image of the 'shojo' (girl), who is situated between child and adult and is largely detached from the heterosexual economy. Paying particular attention to a group of music videos in which female Japanese pop singers offer their own versions of Carroll's heroine, I examine significant meanings that lie in Japanese appropriations of the imagery of Alice. The importance of their performances as Alice is highlighted by the tendency in which the aesthetic concept of kawaii (cuteness), particularly when it is mingled with sweet, girlish, and 'infantile' qualities, is deemed as unfavourable and demeaning in Euro-American cultures. Do their performances of Alice demonstrate a compatibility between girlish aesthetics and senses of agency and autonomy? Can their emphasis on sweetness, demureness, and femininity without hinting at sexual allure or seeking the male gaze serve to repudiate the stereotyped representation of femininity as passive, compliant, and powerless and prevent the sexual objectification of women?. © 2014 BAJS.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Japan Forum	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/09555803.2014.900511	en_US
dc.title	Being Alice in Japan: performing a cute, 'girlish' revolt	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	26	en_US
utslib.for	1203 Design Practice and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Design
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	26	en_US

Abstract:

There is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character Alice of Lewis Carroll's famous children's books. Perhaps reflecting the 'enigmatic' sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertively sexualized 'Lolita'. However, Alice can also be perceived as an emotionally flat yet autonomous character. My article explores this reading of the heroine, which is notable in the context of Japanese culture. In aspects of contemporary Japanese popular culture, for instance, the idea of 'Alice' embodies the idealised image of the 'shojo' (girl), who is situated between child and adult and is largely detached from the heterosexual economy. Paying particular attention to a group of music videos in which female Japanese pop singers offer their own versions of Carroll's heroine, I examine significant meanings that lie in Japanese appropriations of the imagery of Alice. The importance of their performances as Alice is highlighted by the tendency in which the aesthetic concept of kawaii (cuteness), particularly when it is mingled with sweet, girlish, and 'infantile' qualities, is deemed as unfavourable and demeaning in Euro-American cultures. Do their performances of Alice demonstrate a compatibility between girlish aesthetics and senses of agency and autonomy? Can their emphasis on sweetness, demureness, and femininity without hinting at sexual allure or seeking the male gaze serve to repudiate the stereotyped representation of femininity as passive, compliant, and powerless and prevent the sexual objectification of women?. © 2014 BAJS.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30494