Beyond Human Boundaries: A Bakhtinian Reading of 'Goodnight Punpun' as Post-Truth Media Text

Through Mikhail Bakhtin's lens of grotesque realism, this study delves into Inio Asano's "Goodnight Punpun" as a compelling media text bridging posthuman discourse and post-truth realities. When Asano draws Punpun and his family as peculiar bird-like creatures, he creates what Bakhtin might recognize as a grotesque body - one that disrupts our usual understanding of human identity in today's world. By examining the manga's visual and narrative strategies, particularly its use of degradation, hyperbolization, and focus on the "lower bodily stratum," this research reveals how Asano's work subverts established power structures and conventional representations of reality.

Moving beyond simple narrative analysis, our research places "Goodnight Punpun" within larger conversations about how different fields of study intersect and share knowledge. The way the manga grapples with deep depression, lingering trauma, and crushing loneliness speaks to a broader crisis in how we study human experience in an age of global challenges. As a significant media work, it shows how manga can weave together natural, cultural, and technological threads in our post-truth landscape.

This exploration sheds new light on how visual storytelling shapes what we know and how we make meaning today. "Goodnight Punpun" proves that manga can do more than entertain - it can offer meaningful social commentary while helping us build new ways to understand our uncertain world ahead.

Keywords: posthumanism, grotesque realism, manga studies, post-truth, Mikhail Bakhtin, integrative humanities