Learning Mexican Prehistory and Culture through Manga: Public Archaeology as Action in Tlalancaleca

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12789
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Kyoto University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: Kabata Shigeru 京都外国語大学, 京都ラテンアメリカ研究所, 客員研究員 (60585066)
• Research Collaborator: TSUBOI Miwa 神戸芸術工科大学, まんが表現学科, 実習助手 ; KUBOTA Yuka 神戸芸術工科大学, まんが表現学科, 実習助手 ; MURAKAMI Tatsuya テュレーン大学, 人類学科, 准教授 ; LÓPEZ JUÁREZ Julieta Margarita メキシコ国立自治大学, メソアメリカ研究学科
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 地域支援 / 文化遺産 / 文化人類学 / トラランカレカ / マンガ / 考古学 / 地域連携教育 / 国際研究者交流

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The primary objective of our research is to promote an understanding of ancient cultural heritage and academic research outcomes through Manga (Japanese style comics), and to widely disseminate Japanese government’s activities regarding cultural contribution in Mexico. While producing manga and distributing it widely in local communities is an important first step, it is not our final goal. Our main aim is to develop more effective methodologies and contents of the comics through conducting questionnaire survey about cultural heritage, history, and the contribution of the Japanese government before and after reading our products. The result of the questionnaire survey carried out locally has demonstrated that the utilization of comics is highly effective as a medium for educational dissemination. Meanwhile, it was not sufficient to enhance public awareness on the extent of the contribution of the Japanese government, which lead to the conclusion that continued efforts are necessary.

Free Research Field

メソアメリカ考古学