Animating the Spirited

Contributions by Graham Barton, Raz Greenberg, Gyongyi Horvath, Birgitta Hosea, Tze-yue G. Hu, Yin Ker, M. Javad Khajavi, Richard J. Leskosky, Yuk Lan Ng, Giryung Park, Eileen Anastasia Reynolds, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, Koji Yamamura, Masao Yokota, and Millie Young

Getting in touch with a spiritual side is a craving many are unable to express or voice, but readers and viewers seek out this desired connection to something greater through animation, cinema, anime, and art. Animating the Spirited: Journeys and Transformations includes a range of explorations of the meanings of the spirited and spiritual in the diverse, dynamic, and polarized creative environment of the twenty-first century. While animation is at the heart of the book, such related Subjects as fine art, comics, children's literature, folklore, religion, and philosophy enrich the discoveries. These interdisciplinary discussions range from theory to practice, within the framework of an ever-changing media landscape. Working on different continents and coming from varying cultural backgrounds, these diverse scholars, artists, curators, and educators demonstrate the insights of the spirited.

Authors also size up new dimensions of mental health and related expressions of human living and interactions. While the book recognizes and acknowledges the particularities of the spirited across cultures, it also highlights its universality, demonstrating how it is being studied, researched, comprehended, expressed, and consumed in various parts of the world.

“This excellent book of collected essays approaches 'the spirited' from various kinds of interests--aesthetic, religious, cultural, technological, and philosophical. The contributors are scholars, researchers, educators, artists, and animators from different countries and with different cultures. This interdisciplinary approach makes a much-needed contribution to animation studies.”

Animating the Spirited directs readers in a series of intriguing directions with its focus on journeys and transformations that happen both within existing animation or that may be brought about by making and watching animated art works. The collection's greatest strength resides not in where it ends but in where it may lead the reader, with the entries serving as instigations for further work and prompts for viewing fantasy and animation as psychological vehicles that can explore and change the human mind.--Steven Gil "Fantasy/Animation"
Animating the Spirited is a timely and significant contribution to current animation studies that seldom address the spiritual, mental, psychological, therapeutic, philosophical, and religious issues. It ensouls and enlivens the field by interiorizing the animated world and beyond. This is an important reference book for scholars and general readers who are curious about the inner world of animation.--Daisy Yan Du, author of Animated Encounters: Transnational Movements of Chinese Animation, 1940s-1970s

Masao Yokota is professor of psychology at Nihon University. He is former chair of the Japan Society for Animation Studies and current chair of the Japanese Psychological Association and Japanese Union of Psychological Associations. With Hu, he is coeditor of Japanese Animation: East Asian Perspectives, published by University Press of Mississippi.

Gyongyi Horvath is a not-for-profit program management, education, and communications professional in Australia, focused on developing innovative, rights-based education and campaigns that empower people to live their lives to the fullest potential.

Contributions by Graham Barton, Raz Greenberg, Gyongyi Horvath, Birgitta Hosea, Tze-yue G. Hu, Yin Ker, M. Javad Khajavi, Richard J. Leskosky, Yuk Lan Ng, Giryung Park, Eileen Anastasia Reynolds, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, Koji Yamamura, Masao Yokota, and Millie Young Getting in touch with a spiritual side is a craving many are unable to express or voice, but readers and viewers seek out this desired connection to something greater through animation, cinema, anime, and art. Animating the Spirited: Journeys and Transformations includes a range of explorations of the meanings of the spirited and spiritual in the diverse, dynamic, and polarized creative environment of the twenty-first century. While animation is at the heart of the book, such related subjects as fine art, comics, children's literature, folklore, religion, and philosophy enrich the discoveries. These interdisciplinary discussions range from theory to practice, within the framework of an ever-changing media landscape. Working on different continents and coming from varying cultural backgrounds, these diverse scholars, artists, curators, and educators demonstrate the insights of the spirited. Authors also size up new dimensions of mental health and related expressions of human living and interactions. While the book recognizes and acknowledges the particularities of the spirited across cultures, it also highlights its universality, demonstrating how it is being studied, researched, comprehended, expressed, and consumed in various parts of the world.

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