So how is it anthropology?
I'm in no doubt myself that Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi is an entirely appropriate and valid brick for the edifice of Anthropology of East Asia, thanks to various things I've read and explored in preparation for and in personal response to the film. But I want to know how you see this, after nearly a term of exposure to various facets of that subject matter. I think it's material for a discussion, but that wants some structuring. Among the elements I can see that we should include:- how do those who have been to Japan and/or studied Japanese connect what we see in the film with things that are Japanese?
- what connections between this film and other films we've seen can we identify?
- what subjects does Sen to Chihiro raise that have escaped us up to now? What's new, and isn't 'explained' by some framework we've already entertained?
- whose projects does Sen to Chihiro have any connection to?
...and what can we excavate from my 16 November materials that I asked you to read before the film?
I've also found some more 'support materials' to help explain things seen, including dyadic relationships and nausicaa.net synopsis, the property of Chris Kuan (in addition, you can read a text version by Michael Wayne Howe, and another version [more than 20 single-spaced pages!] by ajnrules), and a lengthy review with useful details by Mike Pinsky (see some choice bits). I thought I knew the film pretty well after seeing it 5 times... these greatly deepened my respect for Miyazaki.
I have as an example of my own process a one-page handout from 17 November's chair time, and it points to the interesting problem of
folklore connections that have been occupying me in the last couple of days.