GEEK/NERD/OTAKU AUDIOVISUAL NARRATIVES

Post modern subject and subjective identification

Abstract

Geek/nerd/otaku audiovisual narratives – which are stories derivated from comics, animations, anime, film productions (animated or in live action) – are widely spread across the globe in the entertainment industry. With cyber culture and streaming platforms (especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic period), these productions take the front of the international scene. However, they are more than images in sequences, as they address and accuse singular, social and universal issues. This article aimed to understand the dimension of geek/nerd/otaku audiovisual narratives. This is a qualitative research, narrative literature review, articulating two pathes of discussion: (I) The post modern ages and audiovisual narratives, telling how authors like Hobsbawn (1995), Giddens (1991), Marques (2000), Gushiken e Hirata (2014), Bauman (1998; 2001), Corso e Corso (2006) e Bettelheim (2016); (II) Identity and identification, articulating Bauman (1999; 1998;2005), Freud (1974; 2006a; 2006b), Hall (2006) e Lacan (2003; 1998). It is notorious that in post-modernity, the subject is in a crisis, identities are fluid and there is space for subjective identification as an escape route from malaise. Geek/nerd/otaku audiovisual narratives are some of the means to support subjectivation in post-modernity.