Narrative consumption is a media theory created by the Japanese critic

Eiji Ōtsuka is a Japanese social critic, folklorist, media theorist, and novelist. He is currently a professor at International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto. He graduated from University of Tsukuba with a degree in anthropology, women's fol ...

in his 1989 book ''A Theory of Narrative Consumption'' (''Monogatari shōhiron''). Ōtsuka developed the theory while working as an editor for

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

. Narrative consumption was a large influence on

Hiroki Azuma (born May 9, 1971) is a Japanese cultural critic, novelist, and philosopher. He is the co-founder and former director of Genron, an independent institute in Tokyo, Japan. Biography Azuma was born in Mitaka, Tokyo. Azuma received his PhD in ...

's theory of ''

otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in ''Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorativ ...

'' and database consumption.

Overview

Narrative consumption involves the relationship between "

grand narratives A metanarrative (also meta-narrative and grand narrative; french: métarécit) is a narrative ''about'' narratives of historical meaning, experience, or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet ...

" or "worldviews" and "small narratives" or "variations". The concept of worldview or world (''sekai''), which comes from anime production and

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

tradition, refers to the entire

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

or setting of a work of fiction. Each individual story told within that universe (such as an episode or even a season of television) is a small narrative, or a variation of the worldview. In his book, Ōtsuka examines the way children consumed Bikkuriman Chocolates, which came with stickers featuring a character. The stickers were the primary commodity: children would throw the chocolate out and keep the sticker. Ōtsuka argues that each sticker, with its character, contained a fragment of a larger narrative. Children collected these stickers (small narratives) in order to consume more of the grand narrative. Ōtsuka also writes about ''

'' subculture and how the creation of ''

dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

'' fits into this paradigm. According to Ōtsuka, multiple small narratives can exist within the grand narrative. In kabuki theatre, multiple variations of the same narrative setting are common. He finds a similar pattern in Japanese fan subcultures, where fans create ''dōjinshi'' containing unofficial stories set within the world of an established media work. Ōtsuka argues that once the fans consumed the official narrative, they were able to make their own variations from the worldview referenced by the original work. However, because both the original story and the fan-created stories are small narratives set within the grand narrative, they are equally valid.

Impact

The philosopher Hiroki Azuma was heavily influenced by narrative consumption when writing ''Otaku: Japan's Database Animals''. Azuma argues that narrative consumption has been replaced by the database, a new paradigm of media consumption. Azuma's use of narrative consumption in his work sparked a renewed interest in the theory, which led to a second edition of Ōtsuka's book in 2001. Marc Steinberg writes that Azuma helped narrative consumption gain "canonical status within manga and anime criticism".

References

{{Reflist Literary theory Media studies Mass media in Japan Anime and manga fandom

Overview

Impact

See also

References