ABSTRACT
In the past, certain educators have tended to view popular culture texts as lacking content and not appropriate for academic use. Today, however, literacy researchers are validating these texts, arguing that popular culture texts can provide access for literacy development (Gee, 2003; Rubinstein-Ávila & Schwartz, 2006). We became interested in analyzing manga after noticing its increasing popularity in South Africa, particularly among university students. Manga refers to comics emanating from Japan, which have swept across international borders. The art form has inspired manga-style comics in the West such as “la nouvelle manga” in France and “Amerimanga” in the United States. Conventions employed in manga are distinctly different from that of Western comics. Although its origins are said to date back to the seventh century (Rubinstein-Ávila & Schwartz, 2006; Ito, 2005), modern manga is noted to have emerged in the 1950s along with the flourishing film industry (Kinsella, 2000). Manga’s popularity worldwide has come to the attention of teachers and researchers alike with some educators taking advantage of its popularity and validating the text for classroom use (Alvermann & Heron, 2001).
