Os processos comunicacionais das imagens de complexidade: uma leitura da espada em animações japonesas

Abstract

The sword is usually associated with heroic narratives and, according to the anthropology of Gilbert Durand's imaginary, is linked to the diurnal regime of the images. In the context of contemporary media productions, however, it is possible to verify the presence of narratives that have expanded meanings and the sword is transfigured as a sign of complexity. In this approach, the sword is not only a tool for cutting, splitting, excluding and distinction, but it incorporates in a harmonious way opposite ideas, linked to the nocturnal regimes, composed by the mystical and synthetic systems of the images. In the nocturnal regime of images, the sword transmutes itself and connects with the idea of a blacksmith, in the art of working with fire. Thus, the research seeks to relate the importance of the craft processes that accompany the work of creating the sword and for this discussion dialogues with the idea of craftsmanship, according to Sennett's proposition. For him, the sword is a tool and the swordsman is a master craftsman in the art of handling that weapon. We understand the sword as an image of complexity from the knowledge of Japanese fencing present in works such as The Book of Five Rings and The Sword That Gives Life. The image of the sword has transcended the ages and occupies prominence in the contemporary media. The main objective of the research is to seek its presence as a complex image in the media narratives. For this, the empirical object of the research is composed by the series of Japanese animation Rurouni Kenshin, chosen for presenting the sword like something more than a instrument of combat. Imaginary is understood as the universe of symbolic configurations and socio-symbolic practices whose function is to establish the biopsychosocial balance of the human being, mainly to deal with the existential anguish linked to the fear of death. The methodological procedures adopt the perspective of the line of research in processes of creation and communication in the culture and are based on the researches of Lucia Leão, especially in the method of cartography of the imaginary. The research is inserted in the field of communication and understands the communicational processes as interactive, complex and systemic actions, experienced as a mediated experience