Framing School Violence and Bullying in Young Adult Manga

Book excerpt: This book closely examines the ways in which many popular, internationally-published Japanese young adult manga graphic novel titles frame instances of K-12 school-situated violence and bullying. Manga is a Japanese literary medium that has grown worldwide as an increasingly visible fixture of young adults’ recreational reading habits. The author uncovers the medium’s most prevalent patterns of defining, depicting, and discussing school-situated violence and bullying. Through the lens of socio-cultural media frame analysis, he explores what these patterns might indicate about young adults' preexisting views and beliefs about occurrences of violence and bullying within their own school environments. This in-depth investigation of manga literature provides important information pertaining to the pedagogies and practices of K-12 teachers and school administrators, as well as detailed advice for parents of young adult manga fans.