Paper short abstract:

The paper presents Hayao Miyazaki’s anime as a glocal phenomenon. By applying analytical methods of folktale study, the author reveals the two layers of Japan-bound and boundary-free characteristics composing Miyazaki’s art, to answer questions on its domestic and world impact,distribution and role.

Paper long abstract:

Fairy tales (and folklore in general) have always been examined in their local frame and background in the same extend in which they have been thought as a universal phenomenon. Be it on socio-historical level with the theory of Lutz Roehrich, or within the depth-psychology stream initiated by Sigmund Freud, on structural level applying Vladimir Propp's morphological parsing or through Max Luethi's literary analysis, in the methods of geographic-historical school of Krohn and Aarne, or the theories of origin and distribution developed by von Sydow, Benfey, and Bastian, folktales have always been as much local as a global phenomenon.

Shiro Yoshioka calls Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away "a folktale for the 21 century which teaches that contemporary culture is an extension of, or even a part of, a much larger context of Japanese tradition" (2008: 258). In the proposed paper we would argue that Miyazaki's anime is a glocal phenomenon and we shall come to the conclusion by applying methods of analysis originating in folktale study. In this sense, the work examines some of Miyazaki's anime features to see their Japan-bound and boundary-free characteristics. In this way the author hopes to clarify also the impact Miyazaki's works have over both domestic and foreign audiences. In this new anime-lore the author traces the emerging medium for transmission of ideas and visions, which are born in the interaction of local and global cultures.