Ignoring Hello Kitty: globalization and resistance in Austria

This essay studies the processes of globalization and resistance in Austria by using the Japanese cartoon character, Hello Kitty, as a case study. Bringing in a number of significant researches on this cartoon character, it targets the “hybridization” process involved in the Hello Kitty Magazine, a major form of publicity in the country, before moving onto actual reception of the character in Austria, which has apparently taken the form of “resistance”. As such, the essay fills the gap in current researches on globalization in Austrian studies, which mainly focus on Americanization but not Japanization, as well as supplements Kinsella’s influential essay on the Japanization of European youths, which focuses on the United Kingdom, but not the rest of Europe.

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Amy T. Y. LaiEmail: