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Animating the Spirited

This volume of essays focuses on the meanings of the spirited and its navigation in the diverse, dynamic, and polarized creative environment of the 21st century. The animation medium and its related subjects including fine art, comics, children literature, folklore, religion, and philosophy lead inter-disciplinary discussions, ranging from theory to practice, within the framework of an ever-changing media landscape and social-cultural-political environment. Working on different continents and coming from varying cultural backgrounds, the contributors are like-minded scholars, artists, curators, and educators demonstrating the insights of the spirited and how the spirited-oriented sub-themes, journeys and transformations are exemplified, examined, and interpreted in the context of visual representations. The publication also aims to appeal to a broader reading public interested in the ever expanding dimensions of mental health, culture, and related expressions of human living and interactions. In 2017, the theme of World Health Day (April 7) was mental health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the year-long campaign slogan as “let’s talk”. As humans, getting back in touch with our spirited and spiritual sides is a craving many are unable to express or voice. The essays discussed in this collection speak to, and provoke a desired connection with something more meaningful beyond our material world. While the book recognizes and acknowledges the particularities of the spirited across cultures, it also highlights its universality, demonstrating how it is being studied, researched, comprehended, expressed, and consumed in various parts of the world in both similar and at once unique ways.