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articles

No 5 (2024): écritures japonaises : nouvelles perspectives

Rôles et usages de la typographie dans les mangas contemporains

Submitted
September 23, 2024
Published
November 4, 2024

Abstract

Typography plays an important role in manga both in terms of expressiveness and as the manifestation of an often complex enunciative system. The material conditions of the development of manga production have largely influenced the establishment of various typographical conventions that are still relevant today. Among these, the most important is probably the use of mixed anchi-gochi typographies in the main dialogues, which contrasts with the use of gothic typographies in other kinds of texts such as thoughts or voices filtered by a device. Anchi-gochi fonts are characterized both by the great readability afforded by the kanji in gothic style, and a strongly embodied personality conferred by the kana whose antique style is reminiscent of brush strokes.