Hatsune Miku: estudo sobre a constituição do ídolo virtual no cenário pop japonês

Abstract

The theme of research is the virtual idol Hatsune Miku and her collective construction from the practices of her fans, who are responsible for most part of the production of related content (such as songs and images). This research aims to understand how the virtual idol in the Japanese pop scenario highlights the relation of the Japanese otaku to fantasy, having as our main hypothesis that, for the fan, fantasy is a form of reality and the notion of authorship is shared, suggesting an indistinction between creation, production and circulation. The methodology is based on the conceptual analysis of the constructive processes of the virtual idol, based on a literature review that describes otaku culture; on the studies of the fancelebrity relationship in the specific Japanese context and on the documentary research and analysis of the content produced concerning the object of this study. In this sense, the dissertation is structured in two main chapters: the first one analyzes the Japanese otaku culture and the context in which it is constituted, based on authors such as Barral (2000), Azuma (2009), Iwabuchi (2002), Kinsella (1998), Ōtsuka (2010), Condry (2013) and Robertson (1998); while the second aims to reflect on the constitution of the virtual idol and its forms of relationship with Japanese fans, mainly based on Conner (2016), Black (2012), Sone (2017) and Kinsella (1995). As a result, this research is expected to contribute on discussions concerning otaku culture and its understanding of fantasy, specifically in the Japanese context