Developing the Self and Connecting with Others: The Impact of Anime and its Music on the Western World

Abstract

Our current global climate is filled with xenophobia and distrust. There are currently 65 examples across the continents where countries, such as the United States, Israel, Hungary, Turkey, Kenya, and more have enacted or proposed border barriers, a term used to describe policy that takes initiative in limiting or completely denying entry of citizens from neighboring nations (“World of Walls”). Although this controversy has been recently popularized with President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico wall proposal, this is not a uniquely American issue. Our lack of human connectivity is a global crisis that is in need of mending. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.” Considering this, it is important to remember that along with each of our national civilizations, we are also one human race living in a global civilization. I have come to think about how my own family is a reflection of global unity. I was born the child of a Christian Lebanese immigrant man and a Jewish American woman with a Puerto Rican father. Sometimes I consider myself to be a byproduct of the goal our country’s progressives have had in mind throughout generations: the unity of many different races. I have great respect and honor for my cultural heritage. Throughout my life, I have bonded with my heritage in many ways--including eating mediterranean cuisine with my father, listening to Lebanese music, and cooking paella and pasteles with my grandfather at home. What is interesting, however, is how one of the cultural influences that has impacted me tremendously as an artist and a person is not one of my own lineage. Japanese animation has led me on an almost two-decade long journey of self betterment and cultural awareness. Ultimately, through my writing I will use my own experiences and research to demonstrate how the intercultural consumption of specific art forms can develop the individual’s mindfulness and also create opportunities for people of different backgrounds to unify.