Liberal Arts and Sciences
Christopher Smith Research Group
Led by Christopher Smith · Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
What we study
Dr. Smith studies postwar and contemporary Japanese literature and pop culture, including manga and anime, looking at how they represent and play with Japanese history through nationalism, national identity and postmodernism.
What working here is like
- Reading, writing & theory
- Surveys & interviews
- Human participants
- No coding
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Between Waifu and Besto Friendo: Parasocial Relationships and Anime Fans
The lab studies one‑way relationships fans have with anime characters and how turning anime into live‑action movies might change those feelings. Students will analyze fan stories and social media posts to see how these relationships vary.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 550
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Taking concepts from the humanities and applying then to science
2024 · Journal of The Foundation for Science and Technology
- Becoming inauthentic: capitalism, commodification, and performance in Wataya risa’s Insutōru
2023 · Japan Forum
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- Consumable Bodies, Consumable Self
2022 · Exchanges The Interdisciplinary Research Journal
Shows how a queer nerd in a manga finds community in otaku culture.
- Dogmatic application of effects-based thinking
2022 · Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies
- The text inside us: text on screen and the intertexual self in Bakemonogatari
2022 · Word & Image
Shows how text on screen in an anime disrupts and reflects the story.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Christopher Smith hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.