Peruvian college student gets her bachelor’s with thesis about Naruto Shippūden

Peru is a country that has many fans of anime/manga and shows based on them and since the 1980s and listening to references about Speed Racer (knwon as Meteoro for Spanish speakers), Heidi, Robotech, Dragon Ball, Saint Saiya, Digimon, Mazinger Z, Message from Space: Galactic Wars (aka Sankuokai in Spanish), Evangelion and many others, is no exception. Just like soccer there or football or basketball here in the States, there is something about anime that attracts many people, whether it’s action or adventure, or just a well-done story in animation form that touches our lives or make us cry or angry or whatever. Though the acceptance of anime and manga keeps growing everywhere, not many people have dared to use anime as a subject for a dissertation. Would you do it? Some days ago, a young Peruvian college student received her bachelor’s degree by presenting an outstanding thesis about a character from Naruto Shippūden. だってばよ! Believe it!

At the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP, aka Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), the now-graduated student Alessandra Tatiana Gamarra Stagnaro presented her thesis titled “El camino del dolor: el discurso sobre el ciclo bélico de violencia representado en el anime Shōnen Naruto Shippūden a partir del relato de Nagato/Pain” [The Path of Pain: The Discourse on the war cycle of violence represented in the Shōnen anime Naruto Shippūden from the story of Nagato/Pain]. The news about her thesis on the PUCP Facebook page has become viral. According to the infograph, Alessandra Tatiana received a “sobresaliente” (outstanding) grade from the jury, formed by PUCP President Miguel Ángel Torres Vitolas along with professors Celia Rubina Vargas and Víctor Casallo Mesías.

“Doing a thesis implies a lot of commitment, all part of oneself. You have to organize your schedules and prioritize research,” stated Gamarra as seen on Facebook. “I am a Naruto fan and I am very interested in the subject of the war cycle, precisely, because of how we always end up in the same circle of violence and peace, which lasts a while and prepares the anteroom for the next armed conflict.”

Perhaps the most interesting statement from Alessandra is that academic research should also take a look at popular culture. “Sometimes people say that being a ‘product’ of popular culture suddenly is not a very relevant object of study, but studying these topics allows us to propose better products as communicators,” she added. “Academic research must also address popular culture”.

She received her degree in Audiovisual Communications. With her thesis two years in the making now completed, Naruto fans will be able to check out her work at the “Repositorio de Tesis PUCP” very soon. For now, readers can take a look at this short video, in which she briefly explains her thesis.

About the main objective of her academic research (at 24 seconds): “Well, the main one of the objectives of my research was to know the discourse about the war cycle of violence represented in Naruto Shippūden from the story of Nagato/Pain. My first specific objective was to know how the Nagato/Pain story is constructed from narratology and my second specific objective is to know how physical direct violence is represented from the audiovisual language of the anime in Nagato’s story.”

About her conclusion (at 52 seconds): “From the investigation into the ideologization of Nagato/Pain, Naruto Shippūden proposes as discourse that war cycles of violence occur from personal factors such as the invisible effects caused by violence committed against loved ones, and how social factors identifies the culture of violence and war and structural violence. Basically, what it proposes is that to face the war cycles of violence, one must aim at the ideologization of peace for future generations.”

Nagato/Pain is one of the many antagonists in Naruto Shippūden. Many fans may remember one particular statement from him: “Those who do not understand true pain can never understand true peace.”

[Sources]: Perú 21: Universitaria peruana obtiene su título con grado “sobresaliente” tras sustentar tesis sobre Naruto. La República: Bachiller de la PUCP sustenta tesis de Naruto Shippūden y obtiene su licenciatura [FOTOS]. Radio Programas del Perú: Joven universitaria de la PUCP obtuvo licenciatura con tesis basada en el popular anime Naruto Shippuden.