Matanle, P., McCann, L. and Ashmore, D. (2008) Men under pressure: Representations of the 'salaryman' and his organization in Japanese manga. Organization, 15 (5). 639 - 664 . ISSN 1350-5084
Abstract
In this paper we analyse representations of the Japanese salaryman and Japanese organization in Japanese manga, or graphic novels, during the turbulent decades from the mid-1980s to the present day. We argue that manga presents salarymen protagonists in a sympathetic yet not uncritical light, and that it displays support for and criticism of both the Japanese and American organizational models. In addition, we describe how these manga offer important critical challenges from the world of popular culture to the direction of change in Japanese business organizations since the 1980s. Moreover, we suggest that the manga may also provide salarymen with opportunities for critically re-evaluating their own working situations and for developing methods for surviving and thriving under the pressures of working within contemporary Japanese business organizations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2008 Sage. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Organization. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | capitalism; graphic novels; Japan; Japanese; management; manga; salaryman |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of East Asian Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2014 14:46 |
Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2014 01:47 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508408093646 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Sage |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/1350508408093646 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78012 |