The Impact of War as Seen through Hayao Miyazaki's Ghibli Movies
Abstract
This research uses Sociohistorical analysis and Stuart Hall's Representation Theory to examine how war is portrayed in Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli movies. By examining important movies like Grave of the Fireflies, Spirited Away, Boy and The Heron and My Neighbor Totoro the study shows how Miyazaki creates potent, symbolic stories as a social critique on war and its physical and psychological impact to the society especially children where most of these movies characters portraying children as the main character. Hall's theory provides insight into the collective memory and identity of a nation impacted by conflict by enabling a deeper understanding of how these meanings are culturally encoded and understood. It’s potential to expand English literature students' interpretive frameworks, to go beyond Western texts, and help them understand how important media and literature are for processing historical trauma and forming cultural consciousness makes this analysis urgent.
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