Europe and Japan are geographically far removed from one another. However, and increasingly, Japan is also present in a variety of public venues and forms travelling on multiple distribution platforms: print, television, and online media. Inevitably, all these sources provide polyvalent images of Japan as traditional and modern, familiar and alien. The variety, and sometimes conflicting nature of these images can raise questions about their accuracy and how representative of Japan they are. Japan is perceived through the kaleidoscope of the media, as a fragmented and scattered succession of images, forming an ever-changing vision. While air travel has become accessible for the masses, Japan remains distant for many Europeans, and thus their main or only sources of knowledge are those that are available to them in their home country or on the Internet.

Papers for this workshop can fall into, but are not limited to, the following categories:

• Japan in the European media, in the past and currently
• The press: newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, internet magazines and portals
• Television: variety shows, documentaries released in European TV stations
• Travelogues and carnets de voyage
• European/American cinema and TV shows
• Images of Japan as depicted in Japanese manga and animation (anime, feature films, auteur short animations) as well as Japanese live-action films and TV series released in European countries
• European/American novels, comics, cinema and TV shows
• Accuracy of media portrayals of Japan
• ‘Contradictions’ and ‘paradoxes’ about Japan in European and Japanese media
• ‘Japan’ as a constructed image in/by the media
• Western stereotyping of Japan in the media

Cardiff University’s School of Modern Languages, in co-operation with Mutual Images Association, invite potential speakers to this workshop. Interested presenters are invited to submit a 300-word abstract on topics related to images of Japan through a foreign lens and vice-versa. PhD students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to submit papers. Panel submissions are welcome, but also all the individual papers will be grouped with others of a similar theme, where possible. All papers presented may be subsequently published in the peer-reviewed journal Mutual Images: mutualimages-journal.org.

Please send your abstract, along with your details (name, position and institution/affiliation), to: mutualimages@gmail.com

The deadline for abstracts is 15th February 2018. Presentations will be scheduled for 20 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion and exchange.

Information about attending as a delegate will be sent out shortly after the deadline. A provisional schedule and details of the keynote will be provided at that time.

WRITING RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstracts should be in Word format with the following information and in this order: a) title of abstract, b) body of abstract, c) up to 10 key words, d) author(s), e) affiliation(s), f) corresponding author’s email address. Please use plain text (Times New Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes, special formatting or characters, and emphasis such as bold, italics, and underlining. Your email subject line must read: MUTUAL IMAGES 2018 Abstract Submission. All abstracts will be anonymously reviewed by a jury of specialists. We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week, please resubmit.
Contact Info:

Joint Organising Chairs:

• Christopher Hayes, Cardiff University, UK: hayescj@cardiff.ac.uk
• Dr Aurore Yamagata-Montoya, University of the West of England, UK: auroremontoya@gmail.com
• Maxime Danesin, Université François Rabelais de Tours, France: maxime.danesin@etu.univ-tours.fr
• Dr Marco Pellitteri, Kobe University, Japan: marco.pellitteri@gmail.com
• Dr Matteo Fabbretti, Cardiff University, UK: mattfabb@hotmail.com
• Fabio D. Palumbo, University of Messina, Italy: fabiodomenicopalumbo@gmail.com