HISTORY OF JAPANESE THEATRE

The course is part of the complementary or integrative educational activities of the Japan curriculum in the Bachelor’s Degree in "Languages, Cultures, and Societies of Asia and the Mediterranean Africa."
The course contributes to achieving the educational objectives of the degree programme in the area of cultural and humanities competencies.
The main educational goals of the course are: to provide a general critical understanding of the performing arts in Japan and the basic tools for interpreting related texts; to provide tools for analysing various theatrical genres from ancient times to the present; to develop the ability to judge, produce, and communicate an interpretative discourse on the themes discussed; to stimulate a historically aware analysis of the performing arts in Japan, from tradition to the present, while dominating the necessary technical language.
Achieving these educational objectives allows students to acquire the fundamental knowledge of Japan's culture, history, and society, developing comparative and evaluative skills.

Knowledge and understanding:
- to know and understand the main elements (genres, repertoires, authors, artists, movements, works, etc.) of the history of the performing arts in Japan from the Nara period to the present
- to know and understand concepts and tools of theatre criticism and historiography
- to know and understand the historical and social contexts already analysed in other subjects of the degree course from a different point of view (e.g. historical, linguistic, artistic...)

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- to be able to analyse and interpret the performance phenomena using critical and historiographical concepts and tools of the performing arts
- to be able to critically apply concepts from the historiography of theatre to the period under examination

Ability to make judgements:
- be able to develop critical judgments on the performative and art-historical phenomena that are part of the programme using solid and documented arguments
- be able to subject the various types of sources (academic, statistical, alternative) to critical examination and in a comparative and transcultural perspective

Communication skills:
- to be able to express and elaborate the contents of the programme in written or oral form in a concise and effective way

Learning skills:
- knowing how to take notes in a comprehensive and effective manner
- be able to critically integrate the study of different materials (notes, slides, textbooks, academic articles, audio-visual material, digital resources and alternative sources)
- be able to independently study materials and topics not covered during lectures
- perfect the ability to study materials in English and Japanese
- perfect the ability to use the tools provided on the online teaching platform

The student should be acquainted with the essentials of Japanese history and culture, and should have a basic knowledge of the written and oral Japanese language.

This course traces the salient stages of the history of Japan's performing arts from its origins to the present and introduces the main institutionalised performance genres. The course illustrates the founding principles of performance-making in Japan by outlining traditional forms (covering the Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi, Edo periods), their transformations and development throughout history through the analysis of definitions, categorisations, technical terms, aesthetic concepts ruling the different arts and the repertoires of the various performance practices and disciplines. Elements of intertextuality and re-contextualisation, the contamination between the arts, the intersection between techniques and disciplines seen in their historical continuity and/or discontinuity will be highlighted, providing a critical gaze towards the dramatic arts and highlighting the importance of theatre culture in the cultural history of Japan. Methodologies for an approach to the performative sphere in Japan will also be suggested. In order to overcome the conception of a rigid division between traditional and contemporary artistic practices, will be illustrated the modernisation of theatre and dance since the Meiji period, as well as some examples of contemporary performance.

The lessons are structured around the following topics:
- myth, ritual, theatre/performance
- foundational concepts of performance and kagura
- gigaku, gagaku/bugaku/kongen
- sangaku, sarugaku, dengaku, ennen
- systematisation and development of nō
- history and techniques of kyōgen
- history and development of kabuki
- history and development of ningyō jōruri/bunraku
- contemporary forms of classical theatre
- modernisation of theatre and dance since the Meiji period
- Contemporary performance

- Ruperti Bonaventura, “Storia del teatro giapponese. Dalle origini all'Ottocento”, Venezia, Marsilio Editori, 2015.
- Ruperti Bonaventura, “Storia del teatro giapponese. Dall'Ottocento al Duemila”, Venezia, Marsilio Editori, 2016.

The written examination (45 min) will be divided into
5 questions (multiple-choice) on genres, techniques, authors, aesthetic concepts and works of Japan’s theatre history
2 open questions on genres, techniques, authors, aesthetic concepts and works in the history of Japan’s theatre history

written

Regarding the grading scale, scores will be assigned according to the following schema:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of: Sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension of the programme;
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of: Fair knowledge and applied comprehension of the programme;
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of: Good or excellent knowledge and applied comprehension of the programme;
D. Honors will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied comprehension of the programme.

In-class lessons. PowerPoint presentations supported by audio-visual sources, web-based and alternative sources. Presentations and further readings are available on the moodle.unive.it platform.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development