Euromanga: Hybrid Styles and Stories in Transcultural Manga Production - Introduction

Aug 24, 2026

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The chapter examines how Japanese manga and related popular culture migrate across media, borders, and local European traditions, focusing on cultural power dynamics between Western audiences and Japanese creators. It frames “Orientalism” as an uneven but complex relationship that cannot be reduced to Western dominance, emphasizing reciprocal inspiration and selective appropriation. Using concepts such as transculturalism and transmediality, it outlines a medium-specific approach to analyzing Dutch and German Euromanga, including translation, distribution, visual-narrative style, and production contexts spanning fandom and mainstream publishing.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time26 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Orientalism and Japan–West relations

Manga, “cool Japan,” and soft power

Otaku, accessibility, and translation practices

Reciprocal cultural influence and audience separation

Research scope: Netherlands and Germany

Methodology and close reading framework

Draft of chapter: Lamerichs, N. (2015) . ‘Euromanga: Hybrid Styles and Stories in Transcultural Manga Production. In: Brienza, C. (2015) . Global Manga: J‘ apanese ’ Comics Without Japan. Ashgate: Ashgate Publishing, pp. 75-95. Euromanga: Hybrid Styles and Stories in Transcultural Manga Production Introduction From the nineteenth century onward, Euro-Americans developed a strong cultural fascination for Japan, which is often referred to as ‘Orientalism’. Classically, Orientalism refers to the power relationship between the West and its Eastern Other. This relationship, however, is uneven. Even today, Orientalism is presumed to be characterized by Western superiority and Eastern inferiority as a result of the internalized power regimes of colonialism (Said, 1978) . The relationship between the West and Japan, however, is more complex than Said’s theory forebodes. The dialogue between the Western countries such as The Netherlands and Japan is an intimate one where narratives, experiences and memories constantly cross borders. One space where this flow is most clearly visible in art and popular culture. Historically, Japanese culture has been appropriated in Western impressionist art, Zen gardens and architecture (Napier, 2007) . When World War II tarnished this culturally rich image, the image of Japan became more ambivalent and raised both fear and curiosity. Today, the islands’ global identity, which lingers between East and West, inspires Western corporate businesses, art and media as it represents a mixture of spiritual traditions, strong labor and family morals, as well as an advanced technocapitalist model (Ivy, 1995; Wolferen, 1995) . This Orientalism - an ambiguous fascination for Japan’s Otherness-is closely related to the reception and appropriation of Japanese popular culture in the West. The cultural dynamics between Japan and the West cannot readily be signified as hegemonic forces, but are complex flows that go back and forth between groups. An example of the widespread influence of Japan is manga, a visual language that originates in comics but has spread to animation (‘anime’), games and consumer articles. Japan exports media products that are widely recognizable and hailed by consumers all over the world who align themselves with Japan’s exotic, fantastical imagery (Smits, 2012) . The compelling nature of Japanese culture has been dubbed ‘cool Japan’, a marketing term that originates from McGray (2002) . Coined in the commercial industries, and adopted in Japanese politics, this concept refers to the country’s soft but pervasive power (Nye, 2002) . The cultural influence of Japan has been amply theorized on macro level; signified as ‘cultural globalism’ (Burn, 2006), ‘transculturalism’, (Hills, 2002; Jenkins, 2006b, p. 156) or even a ‘global space’ (McLelland, 2001) . On micro level, the mentioned studies explore the figure of the Anglo-American ‘otaku’, the fan of Japanese popular culture. While the otaku is pathologized in Japan as a deviant and obsessive fan (Galbraith & Christodoulou, 2012), in Western countries the term has been introduced to connote amore positive identity: the cult-fan interested in Japanese content. The otaku is also agate keeper that makes Japanese content accessible. Since much Japanese content does not cross the borders officially, Western fans are prone to, for instance, translating comics, games or animation themselves (Denison, 2011) . The otaku is thus a liminal figure, someone that hovers between the official industries whose products s/he honors but at the same time, always struggles to get access to the culture at all. The popular culture of manga thus already creates difficulties in terms of language, accessibility and circulation. This cultural dynamic is uneven, particularly when we consider that manga culture suggests a hegemonic relationship in which Japan influences the West with its soft power. Still, it would be wrong to portray this dynamic solely as an

FAQs

How does the chapter define and challenge “Orientalism” in the Japan–West relationship?

It treats Orientalism as an uneven power relation but argues the Japan–West dialogue is more complex than a simple West-superior/East-inferior model. It stresses cross-border narratives, experiences, and memories rather than one-direction influence.

What role does manga play in cultural circulation according to the chapter?

Manga functions as a visual language that spreads beyond comics into anime, games, and consumer culture. The chapter links this circulation to marketing ideas like “cool Japan” while also highlighting accessibility barriers that encourage fan translation.

What research focus and method are used for the Netherlands and Germany cases?

The chapter studies manga’s artistic influence in The Netherlands and Germany to explain how Japanese popular culture migrates across media and local traditions. It applies transculturalism and transmediality concepts and uses close reading of visual and narrative style, including paneling and production contexts from fandom to publishing houses.

Aug 24, 2026

Upload by Sage