Weeks 4b, 5a, 5b: Ghosts in Noh

Week 4b: Introduction to Noh

Reading Questions

[OL] Adachigahara (Kurozuka)

We'll be watching a video introduction to Noh (The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: The Heart of Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku: PN2924.5 K3 T733 1989) which uses this play. The main character is a demon rather than a ghost, but has many of the characteristics of ghosts in Noh.

[OL] Aoi no Ue

The introduction to the English translation is short and easy to understand. We'll come back to this play on Tuesday to talk about how it relates to the original version in Tale of Genji.

Brazell, Traditional Japanese Theater  pp. 3-10

This first section gives a general history of the development of Japanese theater.

Be able to identify the following terms and people (NOTE that there is a glossary at the back of the book as well!):

shirabyôshi, kusemai (kinds of female performers)
Kannami (1333-1384), Zeami (1363-1443), Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408)
biwa, shamisen (musical instruments)
Tale of Heike
renga (linked verse)
yugen ("mysterious beauty")

Consider the following questions:

1. What role have female shamans (miko) played in the origin and development of Japanese theater?

2. What role did female performers (shirabyôshi, kusemai dancers) play?

3. What sort of material did Zeami use to create Noh plays?

4. How does the structure of Noh plays reflect shamanistic and Buddhist beliefs?
 

Brazell, Traditional Japanese Theater pp. 24-39

Here Brazell attempts to make generalizations about Japanese theatrical forms.

1. From reading Brazell, does Noh theater (and Japanese theater in general) seem "realistic" or "naturalistic" in terms of language, stage setting, use of time, movement, costumes, props, masks? Why or why not?

2. What seems more important in Japanese theater -- realism or aesthetic attractiveness? Is continuity of time, place, character, and action important in Noh? What do Noh plays concentrate on instead?

3. How is the art of allusion used in Noh? How do Kyôgen plays parody Noh?

4. What do you think Earle Ernst meant when he said that Japanese theater is "presentational" rather than "representational"?

Brazell, Traditional Japanese Theater  pp. 115-125

This section concentrates on the performance practices of Noh and Kyôgen theaters; it is more detailed than really needed, but should provide a good background for class discussion of images and videos.

1. Try to get a sense of  how the actors, musicians and chorus are situated on the stage.

2. What kind of instruments are used to accompany Noh?

3. For what kind of roles are masks worn? Which actors never wear masks and why? When do Kyôgen actors wear masks?

4. We'll review examples of costumes and masks in class; here pay particular attention to how costumes are used symbolically (p. 121).

5. We'll also review examples of basic props (stage and hand). Are props used realistically in Noh and Kyôgen?

Week 5a:  Rokujô in Noh

Aoi no Ue and Nonomiya, written in the 14th and 15th centuries, use the story of Rokujô and Genji from Tale of Genji as their basis. Both were probably written using one of the handbooks on Tale of Genji (a kind of "Reader's Digest" or "Cliff's Notes" version of the story summarizing basic plot, characters and important poems). These handbooks became popular in the Muromachi period for use by poets and playwrights who wanted to use material from Tale of Genji but couldn't manage to read the original. For this and other reasons (which we will be discussing in class) there are some significant differences between the play version Aoi no Ue and the original story, so it will help to go back and reread the chapter from Tale of Genji. (Note: we did not read the chapter "The Sacred Tree" which forms the basis for Nonomiya.)

Aoi no Ue

1) Look for the differences between Aoi no Ue and the original story in Tale of Genji. For e.g., does Rokujô appear to be dead or alive in this version? Does Aoi no Ue live in the end? Why might the playwright have changed the story? (Consider the audience, patron, goal etc.)

2) What are Rokujô's reasons for attacking Aoi no Ue here? Are they the same as in Tale of Genji?

3) What elements of a typical shamanic exorcism can you see in this play? Listen to my online lecture on Shamanism in Noh; Carmen Blacker discusses the relationship of Shamanism and Noh in Catalpa Bow, pp. 19-20, 31, 38-39 (on yorishiro that house deities = the pine tree painted on the back of the Noh stage), and 107 (on torimono, a long, thin object held in hand that entices the spirit down = fan, a branch of sakaki or sasaki (bamboo), demon stick etc. held by Noh actor).

4) How does the exorcism here differ from that depicted in Tale of Genji? I.e., how does the role of the Priest and the shamaness Teruhi differ from the priests depicted in Genji? Why does the shamaness Teruchi scold Rokujô?

5) Why do you suppose Genji is left out of this play? Why might Aoi no Ue only be represented as a kimono robe at the front of the stage?

Note that here Rokujô is referred to as Miyasudokoro, her title as the wife of the ex-crown prince. This play is a typical "dream vision" noh, in which a ghost appears as a local person in the first half, and then returns in the second half in his or her true persona, perhaps in the priest's dream. So the shamanic elements are much less obvious than in Aoi no Ue, but try to look for them. Given that this story involves a Buddhist priest visiting a Shinto Shrine, you might also look for elements of conflict between Buddhism and Shinto.

1) What is odd about the Ise Priestess's temporary shrine apparently still existing in Saga?

2) What reason does the young woman give for coming to this shrine? What is Rokujô's real reason? Why is she ambivalent about returning? How does this Rokujô feel about Genji? About Aoi no Ue?

3) What does Rokujô ask for from the priest? Do you think she achieves salvation in the end?

1) What do you think is the main tension or conflict in each play?

2) Both plays allude to the conflict between Aoi no Ue and Rokujô at the Kamo parade, in which Rokujô's carriage is pushed aside and broken and she feels humiliated. How is imagery of "carts," "carriages," and "vehicles" used in each play? What meanings do "vehicle" and "cart" seem to have in these plays that they don't have in Tale of Genji? (Hint: think Mahayana [Great Vehicle] Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra story of the Burning House!) If you look for references to carts etc. in each play and try to paraphrase those sections; it should help you figure out the meaning. In this respect, the footnotes to Aoi no Ue, p. 93 will help too.

3) Rokujô gets to tell us much more clearly her side of the story in these two plays, as compared to Tale of Genji. But her representation is quite different in each play -- what kind of a woman does she seem to be in Aoi no Ue? In Nonomiya? Does she seem to you like the same person as in Tale of Genji? Why or why not?