{{Short description|Japanese manga series}} {{italic title}} {{Use Canadian English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|cs1-dates=y|date=March 2025}} {{nihongo|'''''Talk to My Back'''''|しんきらり|Shin Kirari|'Flash of Light'<ref name=Holmbergpxxviii>Holmberg, xxviii.</ref>|lead=yes}} is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Murasaki Yamada,{{efn|name=Naming|The English edition writes the author's name in Japanese order, Yamada Murasaki.}} serialized in ''Garo'' in the 1980s and published in Japanese by {{ill|Seirindō|ja|青林堂|fr|Seirindō}}. The English version is published by Drawn and Quarterly, with Ryan Holmberg as the translator.<ref name=Cooke>{{cite web|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/20/talk-to-my-back-by-yamada-murasaki-review-feminist-awakenings-in-1980s-japan|title=Talk to My Back by Yamada Murasaki review – feminist awakenings in 1980s Japan|newspaper=The Guardian|place=London|date=2022-06-20|access-date=2023-01-08}}</ref>
==Plot== The story is about a housewife, {{nihongo|Yamakawa Chiharu|山川 ちはる}},{{efn|Yamakawa is the surname, reflecting the official English translation of the manga.}} who experiences domestic relationship problems. Holmberg stated that Chiharu's "relationship to herself" in regards to self-actualization are the "true heart" of the comic.<ref name=Holmbergpxxix>Holmberg, p. xxix.</ref> She lives in a danchi similar to one that Yamada lived in.<ref name=Holmbergpxxviii/>
Chiharu's spouse engages in extramarital affairs and perceives Chiharu primarily as, in Holmberg's words, "caretaker of his children and domestic servant"; according to Holmberg, he is "not the worst man[...]in fact kind and responsible by period standards".<ref name=Holmbergpxxix>Holmberg, p. xxix.</ref>
==Creation and conception== The original Japanese title is a coinage created by poet {{ill|Yūko Kawano|ja|河野裕子}}.<!--Stated by Holmberg in the Japanese order, as "Kawano Yūko"--><ref name="Holmbergpxxviii" />
Yamada had shortly beforehand started the process of separating from her then-husband as ''Talk to My Back'' was about to serialize.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii>Holmberg, p. xxvii.</ref> The image used as the cover for book releases had Seiichi Hayashi<!--"Hayashi Seiichi", in the Japanese fashion, in Holmberg's source--> do the Japanese calligraphy and {{ill|Shinbō Minami|ja|南伸坊}}<!--"Minami Shinbō", in the Japanese fashion, in Holmberg's source--> do the design work.<ref>Holmberg, pp. xxvii-xxviii (Google Books [https://books.google.com/books?id=hDl2EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT357 PT357], then [https://books.google.com/books?id=hDl2EAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Tetsuka+Noriko,+who+oversaw%22&pg=PT356 356]).</ref> {{ill|Noriko Tetsuka|ja|手塚能理子}}<!--"Tetsuka Noriko", in the Japanese fashion, in Holmberg's source--> fixed design issues and supervised the production process.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii/>
==Release== The February and March 1981 episode of ''Garo'' was the first issue which serialized ''Talk to My Back''. Serialization stopped in September 1982, then began again in December of that month. The final chapter was published in October 1984.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii/>
The first Japanese book collection, published by Seirindō, was in two volumes, with the first volume release in August 1982.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii/> According to Tetsuka, that first volume sold over 10,000 copies.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii/> There were three subsequent single-volume releases in Japan.<ref name=Holmbergpxxvii/>
==Reception== ''Talk to My Back'' was perceived, in press articles, as a {{nihongo||主婦|shufu}} comic. The word means a female head of household, and Holmberg argued that was a better translation than "housewife".<ref name=Holmbergpxxix>Holmberg, p. xxix.</ref> Yamada did not like herself being portrayed as a ''shufu'' artist.<ref>Holmberg, xxxii.</ref>
''The New York Times'' referred to it as an "early feminist manga".<ref>{{cite web |date=2022-09-21 |title=Newly Published, From Neuron Forests to Cryptocurrency |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/books/review/new-this-week.html |access-date=2023-01-08 |place=New York City |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Rachel Cooke of ''The Guardian'' wrote that "At moments, it's almost as if Murasaki has set out to fictionalise Betty Friedan's ''The Feminine Mystique''."<ref name="Cooke" /> Helen Chazan of ''The Comics Journal'' stated that loneliness is a key theme in the work.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chazan |first=Helen |date=2022-07-26 |title=Talk To My Back |url=https://www.tcj.com/reviews/talk-to-my-back/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |magazine=The Comics Journal}}</ref>
''Publishers Weekly'' stated that the drawings are "so overly spare", citing the "loosely sketched gestural action" and how not all facial features are always drawn.<ref>{{cite web |date=2022-04-26 |title=Talk to My Back |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770465633 |access-date=2024-02-09 |publisher=Publishers Weekly}}</ref>
Cooke stated that the work "stands the test of time in the most remarkable way".<ref name=Cooke/>
==See also== * Feminism in Japan * Women in Japan * ''Second Hand Love'', a collection of two 1980s manga by Yamada * ''Housewives of Japan'', 2012 book about Japanese housewives<!--Appears in the bibliography of the English ''Talk to My Back''-->
==References== *{{cite book|last=Holmberg|first=Ryan|chapter=The Life and Art of Yamada Murasaki<!--Holmberg presents her name in Japanese order, surname first-->|editor-last=Yamada<!--Yamada is the surname-->|editor-first=Murasaki|translator=Ryan Holmberg|title=Talk to My Back|publisher=Drawn and Quarterly|place=Montreal|isbn=978-1-77046-563-3|date=July 2022|pages=vii-xli<!--Second to last page is marked "xl" so logically the next is "xli"-->}}
===Reference notes=== {{Reflist}}
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite journal|last=Ebihara|first=Akiko<!--海老原暁子-->|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/genderstudies1998/1998/1/1998_1_17/_pdf|trans-title=Gender gap in Terms of Address (Japanese title would translate to: "What is wrong with being addressed as "Omae"? Using ''Talk to My Back'' as the text.")|title=「おまえ」という呼称がはらむもの|language=ja|journal=Japan Gender Journal<!--日本ジェンダー研究-->|year=1998|volume=1998 |issue=1|pages=17–27|doi=10.14831/genderstudies1998.1998.17}} - Abstract available in English - [https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/genderstudies1998/1998/1/1998_1_17/_article/-char/ja/ Profile]
==External links== * ''[https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/talk-my-back/ Talk to My Back]'' at Drawn & Quarterly * ''[https://www.kobunsha.com/shelf/book/isbn/9784334795207 Talk to My Back]'' at Kobunsha {{inlang|ja}}
{{Drawn & Quarterly}}
Category:1981 manga Category:Drawn & Quarterly titles Category:Feminism in anime and manga Category:Books about feminism
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