Ero guro nansensu translates directly to “erotic grotesque nonsense” It is an art movement that originated in Japan in the 1920s-1930s, and declined during WWII censorship and reemerged in post-war era. It was weaponized both as a tool for oppression as well as a tool for rebellion It was in part propelled as a reaction to the case of Sada Abe, censorship, industrialization, Westernization, etc. Ero Guro Nansensu artists weaponized the 3S policy intended for censorship by president Chun for themselves, using (typically violent) eroticism to criticize the dictatorship (Jeanty 2022). It was beneficial in some ways for marginalized groups, but at the same time harmed marginalized identity- and not all discussions of marginalized identities, even though it was spoken of, was positive representation.
“On one hand, ero guro bodies showed how state-led modernization projects bracketed off nonnormative bodies as grotesque, un-human, and subhuman and further eroticize them for the populace’s consumption in order to stabilize the model of the ideal national body. On the other hand, such bodies stigmatized as ero guro also found a niche in their media/aesthetic representations to politically negotiate and resist the system as deviating and ‘unruly subjects’” (Jeanty 2022).
Jeanty, Thoby, “Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: Veiled Criticism Through Extreme Entertainment” (2022). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 3047.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/3047
