2025/09/02 by Nur Saqifah Aisyah Azlan · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Themes in Literature Analysis #Literacy, Media, and Education #Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/10371397.2025.2584813
openalex publication_date 2025/09/02 · openalex created_date 2025/11/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
The flexibility of the multi-script Japanese writing system provides multiple choices to visually represent the same text, enabling creative and unconventional uses that often deviate from standard conventions. Although prior research has noted an element of repetition within variations of script practice, it has not been systematically explored as a central focus. This article argues for repetition as a semiotic affordance, examining its strategic deployment alongside script play on contemporary commercial Boys Love (BL) manga covers, with a focus on the repetition of titles. Using a social semiotic multimodal approach, this study conducted a quantitative analysis of 471 BL manga covers and interviews with manga editors. It found that title repetition is a prevalent feature, suggesting a trend in manga cover design. Four distinct patterns of repetition and corresponding script combinations are identified, involving monolingual and bilingual repetitions with a mix of conventional and unconventional script choices. These strategies negotiate the informational and aesthetic meanings of the title and its repetition(s) by configuring the balance between salience and readability, for these manga covers to engage with their target audience. This study highlights the relationship between repetition, script play, and meaning-making at the intersection of commercialization, communication, and aesthetics.