The non-essential space in manga

Gao, Yang

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132445 Copy

Description

Title

The non-essential space in manga

Author(s)

Gao, Yang

Issue Date

2025-12-16

Keyword(s)

• Temporality
• Manga
• Graphic Narrative
• Blankness
• Materiality

Abstract

This essay examines imageries in the genre of manga that diverge from the medium’s temporal traditions and employ a compositional logic that is purely spatial. I define these exceptions as the non-essential space in manga. The non-essential space employs an alternative temporality, which I call the material time, where its depiction of time centers on the viewer’s interaction with the materiality of the pictorial elements. By employing the material time, the non-essential space is able to enclose and preserve time as it converts itself into an object-like, textured entity whose composition equates to an occupation of space.

Series/Report Name or Number

The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, volume 6 issue 2

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

Articles

Language

eng

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v6.1840

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2025 Yang Gao
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).

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