Mangaddicts: French Teenagers and Manga Reading

How do teenagers learn to read and appreciate manga? How is manga embedded in their cultural practices and daily lives? This book, based on interviews with French teenagers, analyzes how their tastes and reading habits are built and expressed. Just pronounce the word “manga” and conflicted representations of media reception emerge: either passive teenagers immersed in Japanese fictional worlds, or hyperactive fans. To understand what drives a variety of teenagers to read manga, we conducted empirical research among French readers enrolled in secondary schools. Manga is part of a whole constellation of interests, including music and digital technology. It is also the object of analytical, ethical or concrete appropriations. Reading then becomes a way to deal with past experiences and to connect with others, to learn how to express emotions and to assert (or contest) age and gender norms.