Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Master of Arts in Animation, Department of Moving Image, Faculty of Arts, Soore International University, Tehran, Iran.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Cinema, Faculty of Arts, Soore International University, Tehran, Iran
10.30480/dam.2025.6005.2028
Abstract
Japanese anime, through their deep connection with rich cultural traditions, the use of myths and symbols, distinctive visual styles, and the lived experience of some of the most devastating modern tragedies—the destructive wars of the twentieth century, the defeat in World War II, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—have provided a unique ground for representing grief and loss. Furthermore, catastrophic natural events such as the Kobe earthquake have played a significant role in shaping collective memory and reflecting it in art, particularly in anime. These factors have created a distinctive context for the creation of imaginative and surreal spaces with a remarkable capacity to represent trauma. This study, drawing on Jacques Lacan’s tripartite theory (“the Imaginary,” “the Symbolic,” and “the Real”), analyzes the manifestation of trauma in The Boy and the Heron, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The central question it addresses is how surreal spaces can function as narrative and psychic mechanisms for confronting trauma. Within this framework, the Imaginary is examined as the reflection of repressed desires and fantasies of the characters; the Symbolic encompasses the linguistic and cultural mechanisms that seek to provide meaning to traumatic experience; and the Real marks the rupture and confrontation with what language and image are incapable of representing. The research employs a qualitative, descriptive-analytical method, grounded in semiotic analysis and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Data were gathered through a close content analysis of the film, identifying key trauma-related scenes, which were then interpreted through Lacanian concepts. This process, through the coding of visual and narrative elements and multilayered analysis, demonstrates how post-traumatic experiences can be re-created in allegorical and surreal spaces, ultimately contributing to the psychic and narrative reconstruction of the traumatized subject.
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