Representations of the Masculine in Tagame Gengoroh's Ero SM Manga

Bibliographic Data

ID12349786
AuthorsWilliam S Armour (0000-0002-7248-5655, The University of New South Wales, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume34
Issue4
Pages443-465
Publication date2010-11-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1035-7823 • E-ISSN: 1467-8403
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10357823.2010.527922
OpenAlexW2079060647
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited34

Tagame Gengoroh (1964–) is a Japanese manga writer who specialises in erotic gay male SM themed comics. Though prolific and having a substantial cult following in his native Japan, parts of the US and Europe, his work has not received the academic attention it deserves. This essay explores how Tagame constructs masculinity in three stories set in the context of wartime Japan. By drawing on several interdisciplinary areas to inform my reading of these narratives, I argue that, while on one level Tagame presents stories as graphic cartoon porn, on another level he weaves into the images and wording a much deeper sense of how homosociality can easily transform into homosexuality, despite his male characters being positioned as examples of hegemonic masculinity. The essay comments on how Tagame deterritorialises characters associated with wartime Japan such as the soldier, the POW and the kenpeitai by requiring them to engage in acts not typical of any definition of hegemonic masculinity, and then reterritorialises them into creating equally complex and horror-filled homosexual utopias

Art · Comics · Context (archaeology · Cult · Hegemonic masculinity · Hegemony · Homosexuality · Literature · Masculinity · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Queer · Reading (process · Sociology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Gender Studies · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law

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