Hitler Goes To Japan

That's the cover for the Japanese manga version of Mein Kampf, the book originally written by Adolf Hitler. The manga version has apparently sold over 45,000 copies in Japan and is being published as part of the Manga de Doukuha series (except I'm not sure how many people would really think of Mein Kampf as a literature classic).

The publisher's attempt to 'reformat' classic works* into manga form reminds of how television programme formats, instead of content, are being sold to foreign markets. This is mostly seen in reality or variety television programmes. Take for instance, the success of UK's sale of its Pop Idol format to many other countries. We see this happening in Singapore too when MediaCorp sold its Project Superstar format to Malaysia and Vietnam.

In the case of the manga Mein Kampf though, what changes is the format rather than the content. Nevertheless, I feel that these 2 sets of happenings highlight one thing in common, which is how there is a need for change in order for cultural products to cater to an audience from a different culture. Some changes might not be extensive such as mere translation, others require tweaking the format (such as the Mein Kampf manga to appeal to Japanese readers) while others require retaining the format but tweaking the content to contextualise it (another example would be the many versions of Ugly Betty). I personally think this boils down a lot to how culture shapes our understanding as noted by Clifford Geertz# who saw culture as something that functions to help us make meaning.

Changing formats or content helps capture the varied nuances that are expressed differently in different cultures and reduces the loss of meaning that can occur through mere direct (and usually thoughtless) translations. [which is likely why manga fans prefer fan translations because usually more thought about context and nuances are put into fan translations than the 'official' translation by licensees or distributors].

Of course, there are other issues involved such as costs incurred and also the concerns about cultural imperialism as cultural products from certain countries become more widespread. But those really are issues that I shall (hopefully) tackle in another post.


*Borrowing that phrase is more out of convenience's sake rather than out of any firm belief that all the works that the publishers are 're-publishing' in manga format are objectively classic works.*

#See Geertz, C (1973) Thick description: Towards an interpretive theory of culture. In The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp 3-30). New York: Basic Books