Manga Research                                             HOME

I am a professor with the Information and Communication Studies Program at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John (New Brunswick, Canada). The research I am conducting is part of a larger project on the reading and reception of manga in Japan and in translation to English for North American readers.  Such research necessarily also includes reception of anime from Japan. I am interested in learning about the experience of reading manga, fan activities and any experiences producing dojinshi or other fan fiction. I am a fan and an avid reader of manga (in translation) myself. 

I am continuing work on a cross-cultural study of manga readers in both Japan and North America. I have poor abilities when it comes to speaking Japanese (though I have been trying to learn) so I can only work with participants who are fluent in English.

I'm also interested in broadening my interview base by conducting some online interviews with participants in the future. So far I have interviewed readers of English translated manga in Canada and some  Japanese manga readers in the San Francisco bay area. 

I have embarked on a joint project with my colleague Akiko Sugawa-Shimada in Japan. We recently conducted an online survey for readers of manga and viewers of anime. We will soon be conducting online interviews with a sample of the survey participants. 

This research received funding from the Midori Suzuki Media Literacy Foundation. 

If you have any questions about this research please contact us 

June M. Madeley, PhD.                                                        Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, PhD.
Assistant Professor                                                              Assistant Professor
Information & Communication Studies                                    Kansai Gaidai University
University of New Brunswick, Saint John                                Osaka, Japan
Saint John, NB, Canada                                                        a-sugawa@kansaigaidai.ac.jp
jmadeley@unbsj.ca

Some publications and conference papers on manga and anime industry and fans:

"Popular culture in translation: manga readers and anime viewers outside of Japan," May 23, 2014 at Oceanic Popular Culture Association, Honolulu, Hawaii.

“Trans-cultural conviviality, conflict and transition: reader responses to the crackdown on manga scanlation by American licensees and Japanese publishers.” May 25, 2013 at Asian Conference on Cultural Studies, Osaka, Japan.

“Globalization and Popular Culture: Surveying manga readers and anime viewers outside of Japan.” Presented July 20, 2013 at The Comic Arts Conference, San Diego, CA.

“Girly Girls and Pretty Boys: gender and audience reception of English-translated manga,” December  2010. Conference Proceedings (peer reviewed), Queen City Comics: Astonishing Tales in Academia [http://ourspace.uregina.ca/handle/10294/3092]

“Transnational Transformations: A Gender Analysis of Japanese Manga Featuring Unexpected bodily Transformations,” The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 45, No. 4, 2012 pp789-806.