Fanfic Forensics

Nele Noppe

• Year of birth: 1983
  
• Nationality: Belgian
  
• Place of work: Department of Eastern Studies, Japanese Studies research unit, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
  
• Mail: nele.noppe@arts.kuleuven.be, nele.noppe@gmail.com
  
• Username fanficforenics at LiveJournal and InsaneJournal
  
• Username nele_noppe at Diigo (bookmarks for Fanfic Forensics saved in Fanfic Forensics Diigo group)
  
• Username fanficforensics on Twitter
  
• Username nelenoppe on FriendFeed

Interests:
My research interests are concentrated in the fields of sociology (mainly fan studies) and visual culture/aesthetics. I have been fascinated by manga for many years, and most often, I prefer to explore subjects using the medium manga as a focus and starting point. My master’s thesis, for example, looked at the attraction of (pseudo-) homosexual themes for young girls and women through analysing the way homosexuality is presented in popular girls’ manga. Though manga have always been my research subject of choice, I have a continued interest in other branches of popular culture. Currently, my main focus is on the characteristics of manga as an information-carrying medium and vehicle of fan expression, particularly the way in which amateur manga artists (dojinshika) use manga to express their interpretations of other media.

Apart from these main research topics, I have a particular interest in Japanese art, gender issues, history, and literature. Main interests unrelated to Japan include information technology, open source software, libraries, European history, and current international affairs.

Education

• Secondary education: Greek-Latin 1994-2000, Groenendaalcollege, Merksem
  
• University:
  
  • 2000-2004: K.U.Leuven, Japanese Studies, BA (magna cum laude)
    
  • 2004-2005: K.U.Leuven, Japanese Studies, MA (summa cum laude)

Study abroad:

• July 2002: Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Japan, Japanese language program for European youth
  
• 2002-2003: Nara University of Education, Japan, Japanese language and culture study program, supported by a Japanese government scholarship (Monbusho)

Published academic work:

• James loves Severus, but only in Japan. Harry Potter in Japanese and English-language fanwork, unpublished manuscript (download here, please do not quote without permission)
  
• The Let's Manga research knowledge base, a database of manga scholarship with extensive search and sharing functions and over 4000 entries
  
• BL Manga: een inleidende analyse (Master's thesis in Dutch, download here)
  
• Blogs: Let's Manga, Fanfic Forensics
  
• Presentations and workshops: see list at the bottom of this page
  
• (Published manga translations: see 'Work experience')

Work experience:

• September 2006 - present: Research assistant and graduate student at the Japanese studies department of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Main projects: Fanfic Forensics (Ph.D research), Let's Manga (research and implementation project on the use of manga as information carriers, manga library), practical organisation of the the Japan Week (Japan-related cultural and academic activities, next edition planned for November 2009)
  
• April 2007 - present: Manga translator (Japanese to Dutch), currently working on 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', 'Fruits Basket', 'One Piece', 'Battle Angel Alita', '20th Century Boys', and 'Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind'. Member of the J-Com collective.
  
• May 2005 - May 2006: Japanese Studies librarian at the K.U. Leuven East Asian Library.
  
• October 2004 - October 2007: French and English instructor at the Brussels Kumon School

Presentations and workshops:

• Manga en verder (Manga and beyond) - 10/01/2008
  Workshop on the way manga are used by their creators and readers. First workshop at Groenendaalcollege secondary school, Merksem, Belgium
  Student work on wiki

• コミックを使った日本学教育 (Japanese Studies through manga) - 21/01/2008
  Presentation on the use of manga in Japanese Studies research and education. First presentation at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
  View on SlideShare

• Actieve fans in Japan: dojin-cultuur (Active fans in Japan: dojin culture) - 29/04/2008
  Presentation introducting Japanese fan manga (dojinshi) and the legal issues surrounding them, at Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
  View on SlideShare

• Manga-japans (Manga Japanese) - 08/05/2008
  Workshop on using manga as a language learning medium for adults studying Japanese in evening school. Workshop at CVO Haageland evening school, Aarschot, Belgium

• 日本と欧米の二次創作物における物語形式の相違点 (Narrative differences between Japanese and Western fanwork) - 04/07/2008
  Second presentation at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan
  View on SlideShare

• Kinderuniversiteit: Let's Manga! Japanse strips veroveren de wereld (Children's university: Let's Manga! Japanese comic books take over the world) - 15/11/2008
  Lecture on using manga to learn about other countries and practice reading and language skills, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
  View on SlideShare

• Manga and their fans - 08/01/2009
  Second workshop at Groenendaalcollege secondary school, Merksem, Belgium. Emphasis on fanwork in Japan and in the West. Report and student-made comics here

• Manga and their fans 2 - 30/04/2009
  Workshop at Maria-Boodschaplyceum secondary school, Brussels, Belgium. Emphasis on fanwork in Japan and in the West. Report and student-made comics here

• コミック学における二次創作物の立場 -二次創作物に著作権が与える影響- (The place of derivative works within comics studies -the influence of copyright law on the divide between amateur and professional works-) - 18/12/2009
  Presentation at the Kyoto International Manga Museum for the conference 'Comics Worlds and the World of Comics', Kyoto, Japan
  View on Prezi

• Manga and their fans 3 - 07/01/2010
  Third workshop at Groenendaalcollege secondary school, Merksem, Belgium. Emphasis on fanwork in Japan and in the West. Report and student-made comics here

• The ‘open work’ as a framework for the interpretation of fan fiction - 12/02/2010
  Presentation at Umea University for the conference 'Textual Echoes: Fan Fiction and Sexualities', Umea, Sweden
  View on Prezi