Mechademia 5: Fanthropologies

Mechademia 5: Fanthropologies (2010). Ed. Frenchy Lunning; published by the University of Minnesota Press.

I worked on this one, so I can't speak objectively about its contents, but I can say that a) it's out and b) it's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. There are many, many good pieces in this volume; here are some of them:

• Marilyn Ivy on the art and fans of Nara Yoshitomo
• Tom Lamarre on speciesism in the works of Osamu Tezuka
• A translation of Ôtsuka Eiji on narrative consumption
• Anne McKnight on Shimotsuma Monogatari
• Two really good papers on fans in the works of the late Kon Satoshi
• A set of full-color cosplay photograpy plates
• Ian Condry on fansubs and copyright
• Patrick Galbraith on government attempts to discipline otaku and Akihabara
• A translation of Amamiya Karin on Japan's lost generation

It's a really, really good volume. I'm very excited for volume 6, User Enhancement, the second half of the "fans" issues, this autumn.