Comics at the Intersection of Womanhood and Disability: Essay Manga, Affect, and Community

This chapter discusses “essay manga” as an outlet for women’s life-writing about lived experiences that explores socially important issues in today’s Japanese mediascape. I first introduce the genre and how it has the potential to create greater social impacts beyond manga fans. Then, I discuss the issue of authenticity in essay manga—that is, how the genre can convey a sense of “truth” or “genuineness” to achieve emotional impact on its readers even while employing simplified, cartoony drawings. As an example, this chapter examines essay manga by Mikazuki Yumi, a blogger/illustrator/manga creator, about her everyday life as a deaf person in contemporary Japan. The chapter highlights the unique nature essay manga with a focus on the ways it operates on cognitive and affective levels through its form and style while conveying the lived experiences of a woman with a disability from the personal to the public spheres.