On that note, I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about fansubbing and its impact on the fandom. As a fansubber, it’s hard to ignore the relationship we have with the fandom and Japan when some groups receive cease and desists fairly regularly (there was an episode involving Sekirei just last year that I remember quite vividly). Particularly interesting to note would be the effect free dissemination of goods would have on marketing and economic practices in areas of the economy outside of the animation industry in areas such as tourism.

I’m working on a potential research publication myself, so I hope your efforts will be rewarded greatly in the end. :)

While the history of the development of the American J-culture fanbase is important, I think it’s only context for your dissertation…oooOooO dissertation. Scary?

Anyway…I’m guessing you mean white paper as in a plan/system to alleviate some problems of something? Maybe we’re thinking of two different kinds of “white papers”.

If you were to narrow your proposal, I would be interested (I am, anyway) in a sort of Durkheimian perspective on the consciousness of the “weeaboo”. The word itself opens up some interesting social/semiotic analysis of memes, and also how consciousness is rooted in these memes. In this case, ideas (consciousness) form the “base”, the “superstructure” being the economic factors that result from collective consciousness.

Tracing the development of consciousness (if we take for granted that consciousness is manifested in memes) could be interesting….though I think in this case it’s a reciprocal thing – the economy affects mentality and vice versa.