Ph.D. Update #5: Summary of my Ph.D. project as of 10 June 2010
It takes a team to have the work done...always!
So, here is finally the English translation of the latest summary of my dissertation! This summary is the result of an attempt to make the heart of my Ph.D. project clearer and more accessible to all the people who are contributing, either directly or indirectly, to my research. This new synthesis was motivated by my realizing that my previous presentations were too abstract and technical for people who haven’t studied social sciences and more specifically media and communication from a socio-anthropological standpoint. I do find it normal that those whom I’m enrolling in my undertaking, whether they are helping me financially or taking part in my fieldwork, have a way to get a good idea of the work they are contributing to. I believe it is even the minimum that I can do with respect to them. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to keep this blog up to date, as I haven’t been very good in this so far, but I’ll do my best to at least report on the progress of my fieldwork.
Indeed, I’m in the second part of my dissertation, that is the practical research, involving collecting data and interviewing people. I’m now therefore in the process of preparing interviews with people I have met within associations specialized in Japanese popular entertainment. Some of them have already told me that they would agree to talk to me over extensive interviews and I still need to ask some other people. I’m going for semi-directed interviews, so as to let some freedom to the interviewees to bring up topics that I might not have thought of, while still making sure that we address those that are of importance for my analysis.
Besides, I’m also preparing my last fieldwork in convention, which will take place at Japan Expo, the largest event of this kind in Europe. I’ll be going with a group of fans from one of the Geneva-based association (A-Yume) in order to collect in situ their impressions of this huge gathering and their experiences over these 4 days. I’m also hoping to be able to talk with some of the representatives of a few DVD publishers, especially Kaze, who’ll be holding a stand at the convention. In this way, I would be able to kill two birds with one stone, and bring back some viewpoints from the publisher side.
Well, this means that I’m going to be extremely busy and won’t get bored a bit in these coming weeks. I’m still analyzing the comments collected over the Internet about anime DVDs and animes, both from French- and German-language websites. This is probably going to take me until mid-July. At the same time, I’m reading books concerning animation in general, animes in particular, the audiovisual entertainment industry and fandoms. I’m particularly going to dive into Marco Pelliterri’s book The Dazzle and the Dragon: Models, Strategies and Identities of Japanese Imagination – A European Perspective, of which I just received a copy this morning. I’ll definitely post a comment on this reading! 
