DYSTOPIA AS MEMORY: URBAN REPRESENTATION OF JAPANESE CULTURAL TRAUMA IN AKIRA

Abstract

The study of anime today is delimited by the extremes of cultural determinism and transnationalism. However, in its apocalyptic mode, it appears closely entangled with Japanese national identity and history, sometimes as a subversive agent of memory. In addition, if urbanism symbolically reproduces the imaginary of each historical moment, then it can be argued that dystopias in apocalyptic anime convey certain ideologies about Japan’s past. This research analyzes the representation of the urban in its relationship with the past in the film Akira, proposing the following hypothesis: rather than speculating upon the future, its dystopia enunciates commentary on Japan’s past national traumas. A textual analysis of the film is carried out, concluding that the film decontextualizes and brings together several troubled episodes of 20th century Japanese history in one fabled historical moment that allows to reinterpret them from dissident stances of memory.