Superflat and Post-Gender: A Case Study of female bodies in Ghost in the Shell and Paprika
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Type
Article
Date
2022-12
Journal Title
Journal of Women's Studies: University of North Bengal
Journal Editor
Mitra, Zinia
Dutta, Beethika Moni
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of North Bengal
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117Citation
Dewan, A. (2022). Superflat and Post-Gender: A Case Study of female bodies in Ghost in the Shell and Paprika. Journal of Women’s Studies: University of North Bengal, Xl, 28–45. https://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/5187
Authors
Dewan, Arghyadip
Advisor
Editor
Abstract
This article studies the representation of female bodies in two anime films:
Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (1995) and Satoshi Kon’s Paprika (2006) to
study how the post apocalyptic cyborg and the dream realm’s alter ego both
subvert the gender oriented paradigms by becoming Superflat bodies in a postgender
space. Takashi Murakami’s Superflat manifesto talks about the bricolage
of multiple flattened layers superimposed onto one another to create a composite
surface of multiple focal points where meaning exists on the surface itself rather
than the interior. In both Ghost in the Shell and Paprika we see the melting of
the outside into the inside. The post apocalyptic Niihama City and the unstable
kaleidoscopic dream realm both are examples of what Susan J Napier terms
“fantasyscapes” where the body goes through the Guattarian “a-signifying
semiotic” process to create unlimited intersections of signs, identities, images
and self-images. This contributes to the Superflat “delimiting” (Looser, 2006:
108) of the body where its symbiosis with both technology and the cybernetically
created alter ego takes place. It also blurs the boundaries between body and
commodity. Thus the bodies of Major Mokoto Kusanagi/The Puppet Master in
Ghost in the Shell and Dr.Chiba Atsuko/Paprika in Paprika become examples of
Superflat bodies in a post-gender future.
Description
Keywords
Anime, Manga, female body, Superflat, Post-Gender, Sci-fi, Cyberpunk, Cyborg, Alter-ego, Ghost in the Shell, Paprika, Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Oshii
Citation
Accession No
Call No
Book Title
Edition
Volume
ISBN No
Volume Number
Xl
Issue Number
ISSN No
2320-3625
eISSN No
Pages
Pages
28 - 45