EALC7351 - Japanese Performance Aesthetics: To Anime from Zen

Japan has one of the richest and most varied theatrical traditions in the world, and is a veritable museum of classical and contemporary performances practices. This seminar is designed to introduce students to several major aesthetic principles that are embodied in different theatrical genres. The students will be taken deep into several important texts of the performance tradition, as well as to various places on Penn campus and in Philadelphia in order to fully experience these aesthetics:
1. The “zen” aesthetic of the medieval noh theater characterized by minimalism and Buddhist contemplation.
2. The “queer” aesthetic of the early modern kabuki theater characterized by gender impersonation and exaggeration.
3. The “grotesque” aesthetic of modern butoh performance characterized by distorted physicality and apocalyptic scenarios.
4. The “anime” aesthetic of the all-female Takarazuka Revue and of postmodern theater characterized by parody and fan-generated culture.