Rhetorical Devices in Noh 1. Allusion: incorporation of texts/sources that everyone knows. Depends on the fact that everyone shared knowledge of a limited body of texts -- the Lotus Sutra, Ise monogatari (Tales of Ise), Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji), Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike), the first imperial poetry anthology Kokinshû and other imperial anthologies. They also allude to medieval commentaries and stories based on those texts. They could make those allusions because members of the audience shared a "classical" education -- the authors could count on everyone in the audience being familiar with the original poems and stories. 2. Allusive variation (honkadori本歌取り) : two kinds a. The play as a whole can be seen as an allusive variation on its source -- sometimes it changes it quite a bit. So Izutsu alludes to the 10th century poem-prose collection Tales of Ise, and Atsumori alludes to the Tale of the Heike, but both add material to create a dream vision (mugen) noh. This is the origin for the later more developed idea in Bunraku and Kabuki of a "world" (sekai) of Tales of Ise or Tale of the Heike that numerous plays can be set in. Similar to a "world" of Star Trek or Star Wars, with an original source for the world (TV and/or movies) and then numerous variations develop in other media by other authors. Modern Japanese directors such as Suzuki Tadashi pick up on the idea of allusive variation and worlds in creating their theater. b. The play quotes lines from poems that everyone knows. The poetic associations that have built up around those poems are thereby added to the play. c. Allusions to poetry get used these ways: 1) As a source for an image which is central thematically to the play. Creates a sense of depth. 2) As a way to get the narrative to move along: a) A series of poems can be used to create a story (eg. Izutsu, pp.150-151, 155-157). b) Lines from a poem can be used to frame instrumental interludes or dances 3). To identify a character by using a well-known poem written by them or about them (Sotoba Komachi) d. Example of allusive variation (honka dori) from Atsumori
3. Word play: there are lots of puns in Noh! a. Simple puns: 1) used to hide names (mono no na ものの名) 2) used to create poetic richness (often engo縁語 -- see below) b. Pivot words kakekotoba（掛詞）: example in English: For what do men die 1) used to create multiple layers of meaning eg. from Yamamba:
4. Associated words (engo縁語) Words conventionally associated in poetry, especially renga (連歌 linked verse). For example, words associated with clothing or spring. Associated words may or may not be puns. If they are puns, they don't necessarily need to be related to the main meaning of the text (example above from Yamamba, Naniwa Bay and two kinds of reeds that grew there). 5. Poetic catalogues or lists (mono no tsukushiものの尽くし) An enumeration of something (eg. rivers in Kamo, flutes in Atsumori, fruits and nuts in Kayoi Komachi), usually involving lots of puns and allusions to poems. Usually also includes hidden names. Often occurs in the opening scene of a play, and in that case may contain hints of the shite's true character. 6. Sound -- alliteration, assonance, repetition of vowel sounds eg. from Yamamba: repetition of yama (mountain): yama mata yama ni yama mawari Yamamba Brazell trans. (TJT 225): Mountain after mountain, Tyler trans. (JND 328): yet mountain after mountain, mountain rounds eg. from Izutsu, repetition of izutsu (the wooden well-curb or well-cradle) tsutsu izutsu, tsutsu izutsu, izutsu ni Brazell trans.(TJT 155-56): The wooden water well, Tyler trans. (JND 131): 7. Parallellism: gives structure to the argument, to the poetry. Sometimes reinforced by music and rhythm, sometimes contrapunted. From Atsumori (p. 137): Sore haru no hana no juto ni noboru wa aki no tsuki no suitei ni shizume wa Spring blossoms mounting tips of trees the autumn moon sinking to ocean's depths Simlar lines from Yamamba (p. 221): Sacred peaks soaring lightless valleys deep 8. Michiyuki (travel scene): a section of the play, usually in the first half, describing the journey of the waki or the shite. The description usually involves multiple puns on the names of the places through which the character travels. Sometimes these puns also have a thematic relationship to the play as a whole; that is, the images evoked correlate with important themes raised later on in the play. Examples: the waki's (Renshô's) journey from the capital to Ichinotani in Atsumori (TJT pp. 128-129), Hyakuma Yamamba's journey in Yamamba (TJT p. 211), Komachi's wandering in Sotoba Komachi (pp. 84-85), the journey of the waki (priest) in Kakitsubata to Yatsuhashi in Mikawa. 9. Stream of imagery -- highly poetic section of the play, consisting of a series of images with little grammar connecting them. Often at a climax of the play and usually employs some or all of the rhetorical devices listed above. 10. Development of imagery: a particular image (or cluster of related images) may be expressed in a poetic phrase or a poem (often an allusion). It is repeated and its meaning expanded throughout the play by the use of all the rhetorical devices listed above. The image may be physically present as an aesthetically simplified prop. The intellectual and emotional complex of imagery and props is then highlighted by music and movement. Examples: the well-curb and in Izutsu, the fulling block in Kinuta, the white arrow in Kamo, the carriage in Aoi no Ue and Nonomiya. |