study questions Flashcards
How have factors of class shaped the art of Zeami? To what extent is class a major factor in Edo period literature?
Zeami started from merchant class… appealed to the masses with comic and reality influences and then was able to elevate no plays to a form of high art with the support of shogonate officials. He included everyone and was not exclusive like that of prior eras
describe structure of typical no play
jo-ha-kyu. slow beginings, then plot quickly speeds up and then ends. mondo, nanori etc
How does nō theatre depart from western theatrical conventions such as character, plot, realistic action (mimesis), physical structure of the stage, and audience?
no theatre characters typically blend together… they represent the buddhist concept of interconnectedness. No plays had a bare stage, no extravegant makeup or dress or props. dramaticized acting to make up for it
As an actor and writer of plays, what were some of Zeami’s principal concerns in performing nō plays? Explain the relationship between jo-ha-kyū and a program of nō plays.
Zeami’s made sure that the actor was aware of the whole stage and their gestures and acting were complex and dramaticized. He also believed in the power of paradox… if a old man was the character he had to be played by a young man.
How did Buddhist thought influence the content and dynamics of nō plays?
- impermanence- nothing lasts forever; everything fades…Sotoba Komachi Ono no Komachi’s beauty fades with age and shes sad about it. In birds of sorrow when the hunter dies his wife mourns greatly and says that everything in this life is fleeting.
- buddhist value of killing - In birds of sorrow the man kills the birds for a living and the buddhist value that a life of killing leads to hell
What are the chief characteristics of the thought and literature of the Edo (Tokugawa) period?
wanted to go back to the past..they believe that Chinese influence has corrupted Japanese culture so they wanted to go back to natavist ways. EX: Komo no mabuchi reinvinting waka style by stressing the importance of ancient simplicity in text. Motoori Narinaga who taught how to read Japanese literature and refutes buddhist standards.
How does Edo literature differ from the literature of the Heian and medieval periods?
edo literature was open to public
What role do parody and imitation play in the literature of the Edo period?
PARODIES! the word for word parody fo the Tale of Ise. and THe Dog Pillow Book (this is me making an assumption idk)
who were natavist? views on Tale of Genji
natavist wanted to veer away from influences of Chinese literature and Confucian teaching and go back to Japanese classics. Kamo no Mabuchi- celebrated the manliness and directness seen in Man’yōshū. Motorni Narinaga praised the expressiveness seen in mono no aware (awareness of impermenance) in Genji.
Explain the role of giri and ninjō in Chikamatsu’s puppet plays
Chikamatsu Monzaemon wrote plays of both contemporary and historic interest, addressed the conflict between social obligation and personal desire. The Love Suicides: Tokubei wanted to marry the owner of the firms neice but he loves Ohatsu so he declined. He gets twisted in money altercations between his freind and stepmother… so they both kill themselves.
-The Drum of the waves of Horikimatsue: Otane has an affair with Gen’nemon, husband forces her to kill herself.
Nō, puppet theater, and kabuki represent three distinct theatrical forms. Compare and contrast
- No theater: earliest form of theatre, humble origins, song, dance, music, stylized masks, link to agricultural rites
- Puppet Theater: appealed to urban masses, (need more)
- Kabuki: gorgeous costuming, stylized acting, spectacular effects… showed samurai characteristics but also allowed for countervailing feelings, revolving stages with stage props and trap doors, preformed uniquely by men.
The poetry of Bashō embodies elements that are both traditional and new. Explain.
Haiku poetry in basho’s time · Composed in groups · Parodies of classical themes · High low diction · Chinese and japanese words combined
How do Sōseki and Akutagawa Ryūnosuke approach the problems of self, individualism, subjectivity, and interiority in their writing?
-Soseki does so in Kokoro, when she addresses individualism and interiority with Sensei’s lonliness and inability to express his feelings.
How might the political and cultural background of 1930s Japan have influenced Tanizaki Jun’ichirō’s exposition of Japanese aesthetics in his essay In Praise of Shadows and Mishima’s philosophy of bushidō in his film Patriotism.
1930’s japan was characterized by the shift to totaltarianism. Jan’ichiro exposition of Japanese aethetics put it in a way of light and darkness… while he embraced the dark and said it was beautiful (as he was in favor of traditional japanese ways) he shines a different light on the current state of 1930s Japan
Patriotism shows a liutenatn asked to kill traitor friends, he kills himself with his wife.
How might a “world literature” approach or a category like “international literature” be helpful or not in discussing such writers as Sōseki, Ogai, Tanizaki, and Yoshimoto Banana?
- International literature: appealing to the masses at a worldy scale.. Soseki was modern, Yoshimoto Banana involved modern worldly concepts such as transgenderism and made popular culture references to Bewiched (An american TV show)
- Tanizaki’s work would not be associated with world literature because it rejects western ideals and is in favor of Japanese tradition.
