is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence.Silverberg, Miriam Rom. "By Way of a Preface: Defining Erotic Grotesque Nonsense". Galley copy of the preface for Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times. December 12, 2005. As a term, it is used to denote something that is both erotic and grotesque.
The term itself is an example of , a Japanese combination of English words or abbreviated words: from erotic and from grotesque. The "grotesqueness" implied in the term refers to things that are malformed, unnatural, or horrific. Items that are pornographic and bloody are not necessarily , and vice versa. The term is often mistaken by Western audiences to mean "gore" – depictions of horror, blood, and guts.
History art experienced a boom when , a subculture characterized as a "prewar, bourgeois cultural phenomenon that devoted itself to explorations of the deviant, the bizarre, and the ridiculous", manifested in the popular culture of Taishō Tokyo during the 1920s. Writer Ian Buruma describes the social atmosphere of the time as "a skittish, sometimes nihilistic hedonism that brings Weimar Berlin to mind."
's first distinct appearance began in the 1920s and 1930s Japanese literature. The Sada Abe Incident of 1936, where a woman strangled her lover to death and castrated his corpse, struck a chord with the movement but shortly led to the censorship of related media. Other similar activities and movements were generally suppressed in Japan during World War II, but re-emerged in the postwar period, especially in manga and music.McLelland, Mark. "A Short History of Hentai; (PDF version). Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, issue 12 (January 2006). .
Eroguro nansensu of the 20’s and 30’s was seen as a bourgeois cultural phenomenon which was partially the result of the sudden influx of Western goods into Japan after World War I. The phrase eroguro nansensu was originally coined by the media as a derogatory term for the “consumer culture organized around the consumption of things, images, and entertainment”. Those who participated did not use the term at first, but eventually appropriated it so others could find similar forms of entertainment.
Despite fading into obscurity due to Japan’s militarism and censorship, the postwar bubble of the 1980s led to the reemergence of ero guro as a movement. This led to the prominence of contemporary ero guro artist Maruo Suehiro. His art style was influenced by ads from the 20s and 30s, with his stories such as Shoujo Tsubaki taking place during the time of eroguro nansensu’s nascence.
Another one of the most important and influential post-war ero guro illustrators was Toshio Saeki. Some visual kei bands have a concept or theme relating to , most notably Cali Gari.Bounce Di(s)ctionary Number 13—Visual Kei . Retrieved November 19, 2008.
See also Body horror Carnography Erotic horror Grotesque
List of genres Marquis de Sade Mnemosyne (TV series)
Ryona Snuff film Splatter film Tokyo Red Hood Urotsukidoji
References
Further reading
Aguilar, Carlos (editor). Bizarre Sinema! Japanese Ero Gro & Pinku Eiga 1956–1979. Firenze, Italy: Glittering Images, 2005. . Silverberg, Miriam Rom. Galley copy of the table of contents and preface for Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times. December 12, 2005. Silverberg, Miriam Rom. Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times; . Asia Pacific modern, 1. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006. .