Vox Artes is a community built around the project of generating Marxist discussion of anime and otaku subculture at large. As a website, it was born from a belief that, just like any of the other arts which receive political commentary, anime has its politics, which deserve their attention in the face of the medium’s popularity and influence. The purpose of such an undertaking is dual: firstly, to improve the online discourse around anime and culture at large; secondly, and most importantly, use a popular medium as a jumping off point to spread Marxist theory in general and help readers think through the present moment. We mainly publish:
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Interventions: theoretical considerations on how a Marxist analysis can help understand anime and culture at large
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Commentaries: analyses of specific anime
As a community, our goal is to provide a space for the safe sharing of common interests among left-wing anime fans; but more importantly, to generate further discussion on what a political understanding of anime, and culture in general, entails. This means that our articles are questions as much as they are statements: what we hope is not merely to impart knowledge of a Marxist concept or two on our readers, but also ask through our analyses how the Marxist comprehension of culture can be furthered, and challenge readers to weave new relationships to the media they consume. What we hope to achieve with this is not anything revolutionary: rather, we believe that interpretation of cultural works, when properly oriented, can lead to a political understanding which transcends its original object, and help one gain a fuller view of our current political situation. This, of course, does not need to be limited to one approach and one writer: anyone wishing to contribute can consult the dedicated page.
With all that out of the way, welcome to the community! You can join the Discord (look at the sidebar to your right); or you can just read the articles on here, and maybe leave a comment (nice or otherwise). Whatever you do, please enjoy your time!
And before we end, a (very) brief staff introduction:
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daysofsummer: aka Ambre. French femby, currently trying to get an M.A. in Japanese Studies (researching Murata Sayaka). She’s the website’s founder, and its main writer as of now. Drowning in work, and always sleepy. You can read her unstructured ramblings on her personal blog.
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Karin: American trans girl trying her best to keep everything together behind the scenes. If she’s not doing that, she’s probably looking at yuri or something.
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Joe: the voice and words of Pause & Select. Canadian PhD student, researching video games and ideology. He edits daysofsummer’s articles starting with Class and Romance in “Kaguya-sama: Love Is War”
