Ero guro
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Ero guro (エログロ ero-guro?) is a wasei-eigo term that describes a loose genre in Japanese art and music that merges the disgusting with the erotic. Often further abbreviated to simply "guro", the term comes from the English words "erotic grotesque nonsense", and commonly denotes artwork that depicts subjects such as violence, mutilation, dismemberment, defecation, and coprophagia in a sexual manner.
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[edit] History
Ero guro manifested in the 1920s as a "prewar, bourgeois cultural phenomenon that devoted itself to explorations of the deviant, the bizarre, and the ridiculous." [1] Its roots go back to erotic shunga artist like Yoshitoshi, whose mid-1860s woodblock printings showed decapitations and acts of violence from Japanese history. Ukiyo-e artists such as Utagawa Kuniyoshi presented similar themes with bondage, rape, and erotic crucifixion.
Ero guro's first distinct appearance began in 1920s and 1930s Japanese literature. The Sada Abe Incident of 1936, where a woman choked and castrated her lover, struck a chord with the ero guro movement, and came to represent that genre for years to come.[2] This and other activities and movements were generally suppressed in Japan during World War II but re-emerged in the postwar period, especially in manga and music.[1]
Over time, the ero guro movement's influence expanded into parts of Japanese theatre, art, manga, and eventually film and music.
[edit] In visual media
The typifying element of ero guro visual art is the macabre intermingled with sexual overtones. Often the erotic element, even when not explicit, is merged with grotesque themes and features—somewhat similar to the works of H. R. Giger. Others produce ero guro as a genre of Japanese pornography and hentai involving blood, gore, disfiguration, violence, mutilation, urine, enemas, or feces.
Examples of well-known guro mangaka include Suehiro Maruo, Shintaro Kago, Jun Hayami, Toshio Maeda, Henmaru Machino, Horihone Saizō, and Waita Uziga.
The modern genre of tentacle rape began within the category of ero guro (although it has much older roots in Japanese art; see The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife), but was so popular that it is now usually considered separately.
Ero guro is also an element of many Japanese horror films and pinku eiga, particularly of the 1960s and 1970s. Examples include Teruo Ishii's Shogun's Joys of Torture (1968) and Horrors of Malformed Men (1969) and Yasuzo Masumura's Blind Beast (盲獣, 1969), the latter two based on the works of Edogawa Rampo. A more recent example of ero guro in cinema is Sion Sono's Strange Circus (奇妙なサーカス, 2005).
[edit] Legality
Many countries prohibit pornography that is deemed to incite violence. This may be specifically because of the concern that the portrayed acts might be copied by mentally disturbed sadists, or simply as an outgrowth of the belief that pornography, especially hardcore pornography, objectifies and dehumanizes people.
As such, guro would likely be considered illegal in countries having such legislation. However, the fact that most guro artwork is clearly that—drawn or photomanipulated images not portraying reality—prevents most law enforcement agencies (especially online) from making the pursuit of such material a priority, concentrating instead on material such as child pornography.
[edit] In music
Ero guro bands (most often seen as a sub-genre within visual kei or post visual by some fans) typically use shock visuals, as well as lyrics and live imagery, but look less feminine than traditional visual kei. Within the erotic and shock value of the bands' music and performance, there is also humour. It has long been rumoured that Cali≠Gari were responsible for the application of the term to music.
One of the most notable bands in the genre is Jig-Ai, a goregrind band hailing from the Czech Republic. They are known for their over the top use of guro in both their imagery and lyrics. Other bands usually described as ero guro include Kinniku Shōjo Tai，Guruguru Eigakan, Inugami Circus-dan, Rauya, Merry and Cali≠Gari. Ero guro puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption and decadence. [2].
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Reichert, Jim (2001). "Deviance and Social Darwinism in Edogawa Ranpo's Erotic-Grotesque Thriller Koto no Ōni". Journal of Japanese Studies 27 (1): p.113–114. doi:.
- ^ Johnston, William (2005). Geisha, Harlot, Strangler, Star: A Woman, Sex, and Morality in Modern Japan (in English). New York: Columbia University Press, p.11, 114, 160. ISBN 0-231-13052-X.
[edit] References
- Paper by Mark McLelland of the University of Queensland (pdf version)
- Paper from UCLA website by Professor Miriam Silverberg
- Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: The Mass Culture of Japanese Modern Times by Professor Miriam Silverberg
- Aguilar, Carlos (editor). Bizarre Sinema! Japanese Ero Gro & Pinku Eiga 1956-1979. Firenze, Italy: Glittering Images, 2005. ISBN 88-8275-065-5
