Japan Lecture Series: Not-so-Japanese Comics: Foreign Languages in Manga

Manga are Japanese comics, so they are originally created in Japanese, right? Well, yes, but not exactly. Although their primary language is Japanese, manga authors can be quite creative in borrowing from other languages. What is “pichangatti” or “ocho fleur clutch”? Why do some Martians speak German? Does Dark Lord know ancient Greek? These and other questions will be answered in this prelection, given by Pawel Dybala, a manga translator with 17 years of experience.

ISDP is delighted to welcome Paweł Dybała, PhD, as the speaker for this event. Dr. Dybała is Assistant Professor at the Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He specializes in Japanese language, linguistics, computational linguistics, natural language processing (NLP), artificial intelligence (AI), human-computer interaction (HCI), cognitive science. His research interests include the Japanese language, humor processing, affect recognition, metaphor processing, cyber-bullying, machine ethics, Japanese pop culture, multiagent systems, Japanese wordplay, Japanese onomatopoeia.

The Head of ISDP’s Japan Center, Dr. Lars Vargö, will moderate the event.