Paper short abstract:

I will analyze the role of "The Scientist" in Japanese cinema, a notion related both to the construction of hegemonic masculinity and scientific nationalism. I will analyze postwar representations of the mad/sad/rad scientist in pop culture and how it correlates with the construction of identities.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I will trace the role of "The Scientist" in Japanese cinema, concentrating mostly on films that could be labeled kaiki eiga, fantastic films inclusive of, but not limited to, horror and science fiction. I will utilize the notion of a functional bundle, "a mental unit that is invented, mind-grapping, attention-grabbing and widely communicated" (Grodal 2009).

I will concentrate on films by Honda Ishiro, Tsukamoto Shinya, Kurosawa Kiyoshi as well as the recent Hayabusa films. These works represent two distinct postwar periods during which kaiki eiga appeared in large: the 1950s/1960s, and the 1990s/2000s. The Scientist in these films appears as an invention, a cultural artifact that performs certain functions in film which, in this particular case, are related to the construction of hegemonic masculinity and masculine ideologies of postwar Japan. Scientific stories of the former period were much concerned with bodily metamorphoses (変身) as representations of past ideologies, whereas contemporary films utilize the motif of psychological transformation (変心) of the protagonist. I suggest this cinematic shift correlates with a wider societal paradigm shift. In the 1950s and 1960s scientists appear as harbingers of destruction, calling for attention not only towards the destructive role of nuclear science, but also its pivotal role in the construction of Japanese nationalism and masculinity. However, in the 1990s and 2000s scientists have come to manifest a double-fold functionality. They either appear as representations of the anxiety felt towards the hegemonic masculine identity of a salaryman or as symbols of new hope brought to the people by the advances of Japanese science.

This paper will not only utilize a relatively new theoretical framework for the study of Japanese cinema, but also contribute greatly to the study of masculinity in Japanese popular culture. In addition, the notion of "scientific nationalism" is never far behind as the status of the emasculated, empowered, emancipated Japanese male is negotiated.