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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: August 19, 2020 at 12:06:07 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-SHERA]: Boivin on Dobson and Honess Roe and Ratelle > and Ruddell, 'The Animation Studies Reader' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Nichola Dobson, Annabelle Honess Roe, Amy Ratelle, Caroline Ruddell, > eds. The Animation Studies Reader. New York Bloomsbury Academic, > 2018. Illustrations. 352 pp. $29.95 (paper), ISBN > 978-1-5013-3260-9; $130.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-5013-3261-6. > > Reviewed by Jennifer Boivin (University of Sudbury) > Published on H-SHERA (August, 2020) > Commissioned by Hanna Chuchvaha > > For several decades, animation was seen as the innocent child of > contemporary media. Often considered innocuous and juvenile and > perceived as being aimed mostly at children, it remained a marginal > discipline in academia. However, in the past thirty years, what used > to be an obscure sub-area of film scholarship has evolved into a > legitimate field of study. Over the years, this growing interest in > animation has generated new research from scholars internationally, > and _The Animation Studies Reader_, a thematic volume on animation > scholarship, provides proof of these exciting changes. > > The editing team of this publication is composed of four active > animation female researchers: Nichola Dobson, Annabelle Honess Roe, > Amy Ratelle, and Caroline Ruddell. Unlike the majority readers > available on the market, _The Animation Studies Reader_ does not deal > with the history of animation, its aesthetics, or a specific > animation production studio. Instead, the editors dedicate this > publication specifically to animation's key issues, topics, and > debates. The twenty-two short essays are organized in three parts > dealing with theoretical, formal, and representational questions in > animation. > > _The Animation Studies Reader_ will prove especially useful in a > classroom context because it presents many reprinted classic articles > important to the study of animation. For example, Tom Gunning's > article, "The Cinema of Attractions: Early Film, Its Spectators and > the Avant-Garde," first published in 1986 and reprinted twice since > then, is included. Gunning's text deals with the fundamental > spectacle aspect of cinema and argues that early cinema viewers would > go see a film for its exhibitionist and attraction quality. This > essay is relevant because animation also deals with the concepts of > novelty, technology, and the role of comedy, gags, and chases in > spectators' experience of animated films. In another reprinted essay > (first published in 2006), Aylish Wood explores animation's > relationship to space and spatial transformation, for example, > through metamorphosis of the characters' bodies. While many > researchers recognize the importance of metamorphosis to > understanding animation, Wood rethinks the concept of cinematic space > and provides a sustained analysis of the significance of > metamorphosis in animation. Animation's interdisciplinarity is also > addressed in "Some Thoughts on Theory-Practice Relationships in > Animation Studies_." _In this essay, well-known animation researcher > Paul Ward deals with how theory and practice are interrelated in the > field in what he calls "communities of practice." Initially published > in 2006, this essay is still relevant today as many researchers in > the field are not necessarily academics but also animators. > > The reprints cover performance in animation and animation as a type > of performance (Honess Roe); race and ethnic stereotypes (Nicholas > Sammond); concepts of whiteness, minority, and assimilation (Alison > Reiko Loader); representation of women in anime (Rayna Denison); and > classical American animation from the golden era (Amy M. Davis). The > final reprinted essay, "Taking an Appropriate Line: Exploring > Representations of Disability within British Mainstream Animation," > is concerned with how the representation of physical disability in > animation is challenged in the British series _Creature Discomforts > _(2007-8) (Van Norris). A thorough reading of these classic texts > will certainly give the reader a solid understanding of the field > through its theoretical and conceptual questions. > > _The Animation Studies Reader _also brings to light new emerging > academic work in the field of animation. For example, animation's > ontology and the conceptual questions of what animation is, what > characterizes it, and how one should approach this field are > addressed in Lilly Husbands and Ruddell's collaborative essay, > "Approaching Animation and Animation Studies." Furthermore, Victoria > Grace Walden offers a fascinating discussion of animation's > dimensions of memory, such as trauma, witnessing, collective memory, > national identity, and nostalgia in her essay, "Animation and > Memory." Realism is another important topic covered in this volume, > including realism in animation techniques and in emerging media > (Mihaela Mihailova) as well as the uncanny feeling and spectatorial > unease produced by computer-generated imagery's (CGI) attempts to > create lifelike photorealist human-animated characters (Lisa Bode). > These two essays on realism are especially relevant today as more and > more animated and life-action films are produced using CGI > techniques. > > Several of the new emerging works are part of the second section of > the book dealing with forms and genres of animation. Most texts are > concerned with animation's various material forms and media, such as > television (Dobson) and video games (Chris Pallant). The reader will > find in this section discussion related to the purpose of animation, > including propaganda (Eric Herhuth) and advertisement (Malcom Cook). > Animation's modes are also addressed, such as commercial short and > feature-length animation (Christopher Holliday), experimental > approaches to the media (Paul Taberhman), nonfiction (Roe), and > audiences (Ratelle). Gender and sexuality remain topics of actuality > as the reader will see in the essay by Dobson, "Transformers: Rescue > Boots: Representation in Disguise."_ _In this essay, the author > examines how sexual diversity is represented through the characters > and cast of _Rescue Bots _(2012-16),_ _an animated robot superhero > series based on the _Transformers_ franchise. > > As I write this review, I realize how difficult it is to organize > these various topics in a single volume. It certainly demonstrates > how rich and dynamic the research in animation has become and the > orientation that animation scholars are taking. For example, based on > these chapters, one notices that new emerging research seems less > interested in the representation of minorities or sexuality in > animated films while topics related to forms and genres dominate. The > editors of _The Animation Studies Reader _certainly deserve credit > for organizing these various topics into a well-constructed > publication. > > Overall, Dobson, Honess Roe, Ratelle, and Ruddell have built a solid, > accessible, and well-balanced volume for both the animation > enthusiast and the nonspecialist. My main criticism concerns the > overuse of already known texts, which count for almost half the book. > For example, they form a little bit less than half of the first part > of the book, while the last section only contains one new text. While > I have acknowledged that these reprinted texts are important and that > a reader must present some classics, I find they tend to overshadow > the new material presented. For this reason, a reader familiar with > animation scholarship might find some of these chapters a bit > repetitive. Nevertheless, for the same reason, I recommend _The > Animation Studies Reader_ especially for teaching courses devoted to > animation and film studies in context, as this volume intelligibly > bridges both classic and contemporary animation approaches. > > Overall, this publication remains a very good resource for a > comprehensive understanding of the field. I particularly appreciate > that the editors made an effort to integrate scholarly work by women. > In fact, about 60 percent of the book is by women contributors. The > editors also made sure to address the perspective of the animator, > the perspective of the viewer, and a large spectrum of methodologies, > such as phenomenology, ontology, feminism, gender, genre, aesthetics, > ethnicity, etc. The chosen texts are all well integrated and follow a > certain continuity, making it a really pleasurable read. With this > book, _The Animation Studies Reader_'s editors certainly succeeded in > demonstrating the richness and diversity of animation and animation > studies. > > Citation: Jennifer Boivin. Review of Dobson, Nichola; Honess Roe, > Annabelle; Ratelle, Amy; Ruddell, Caroline, eds., _The Animation > Studies Reader_. H-SHERA, H-Net Reviews. August, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54008 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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