ok i know i wrote up a proposal about power politics in Noh. but initially i wanted to write on yuugen and iki. but then again I don't know exactly what i want to write on yugen and iki. and i figure that if you want to do japanese aesthetics you'd be so much better of if you can read japanese or classical japanese since those things are pretty ancient. well of course the same goes for power politics, but at least i think politics being a politics and a study that is a very well westerners have always been interested in politics everywhere so it's easier to find english stuff most probably. plus, i have no clear idea what kind of thesis i'd do - i only thought that iki was born out of yugen but yeah, if i wanted to really do that i'd have to be able to find traces of yugen in iki that isn't just my own imagination, maybe like terminology - and if i'm doing that it MUST be in japanese.
plus lbc also did yugen and hana and all that sooooo i think i should just avoid aesthetics as long as ican't read japanese. not at an academic level anyway.
thennn i half thought of doing religion but never really worked out thesis and points.
sooo yeah even though i fonud some yugen, iki and aesthetics books i think i'll just stick to taiko since i already wrote out a general structure and there ARE some books i can use. soo two plus points. ok.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
taiko noh
I plan to investigate and argue that Noh can and WAS a political tool. might it be conscious or subconscious.
political tool meaning - using noh to assert your power from the view of the ruling authorities point of view.
Points:
1) An avenue to show that you were the big shot, asserting your power by saying "hey, I'm the Shogun. By the way, watch Noh." and then everybody will have to watch Noh because otherwise they'd be incurring your displeasure. Kind of a practical yet very abstract thing as well, although I can't yet get my mind as to exactly what sense. macam it's a very practical way to subjugate the more powerful, potential rivals, but at the same time it doesn't have the feeling like the whole tokugawa alternative edo living thing. Why ah? should ask hislop. is it precisely because it's entertainment so you don't normally associate entertainment with power politics, although it IS very real and very present? so is it just a problem of stereotypical perception? this is like ehhh can't remember whose name, and toyotomi also when he forced everybody to indulge into noh.
2) An direct media to propagandize yourself. taiko noh!
Toyotomi. duh. although he's the only example but yet because he DID do it so it shows the possibilities that dictators and rulers have even in the realm of the so called performing arts. it's a very creative way.
2a) to make yourself a living legend - hideyoshi immortalizing himself.
3) segregation of classes - despite they all sitting in the same theatre, ultimately they were separated and if you're a peasant being forced to sit in the rain i think you pretty much can't ignore who's boss.
4) and because there is a direct connection between the noh troupes and the shogun who patronizes them, as well as daimyo, and since hte patronage was very important for the survival of noh in that period (I AM NOT DOING CONTEMPORARY NOH FOR THIS REASON. IT IS ALMOST IRRELEVANT POLITICALLY TODAY, ALTHOUGH I COULD WORK HARDER AND TRY PROVING THAT AS WELL ONE DAY.) so it was like it would have commonsensically (but of course, don't fall into the common sense trap) made the noh troupe be careful to make sure that they preserve the power of their shogun, both to ensure that patronage is carried on, and in order for that to happen, they lick their boots to keep them happy (although of course, they don't NECESSARILY have to lick boots to keep them happy, but let's use the example of the Zeami licking boots play)
yah I think for now that's all i can think of.
political tool meaning - using noh to assert your power from the view of the ruling authorities point of view.
Points:
1) An avenue to show that you were the big shot, asserting your power by saying "hey, I'm the Shogun. By the way, watch Noh." and then everybody will have to watch Noh because otherwise they'd be incurring your displeasure. Kind of a practical yet very abstract thing as well, although I can't yet get my mind as to exactly what sense. macam it's a very practical way to subjugate the more powerful, potential rivals, but at the same time it doesn't have the feeling like the whole tokugawa alternative edo living thing. Why ah? should ask hislop. is it precisely because it's entertainment so you don't normally associate entertainment with power politics, although it IS very real and very present? so is it just a problem of stereotypical perception? this is like ehhh can't remember whose name, and toyotomi also when he forced everybody to indulge into noh.
2) An direct media to propagandize yourself. taiko noh!
Toyotomi. duh. although he's the only example but yet because he DID do it so it shows the possibilities that dictators and rulers have even in the realm of the so called performing arts. it's a very creative way.
2a) to make yourself a living legend - hideyoshi immortalizing himself.
3) segregation of classes - despite they all sitting in the same theatre, ultimately they were separated and if you're a peasant being forced to sit in the rain i think you pretty much can't ignore who's boss.
4) and because there is a direct connection between the noh troupes and the shogun who patronizes them, as well as daimyo, and since hte patronage was very important for the survival of noh in that period (I AM NOT DOING CONTEMPORARY NOH FOR THIS REASON. IT IS ALMOST IRRELEVANT POLITICALLY TODAY, ALTHOUGH I COULD WORK HARDER AND TRY PROVING THAT AS WELL ONE DAY.) so it was like it would have commonsensically (but of course, don't fall into the common sense trap) made the noh troupe be careful to make sure that they preserve the power of their shogun, both to ensure that patronage is carried on, and in order for that to happen, they lick their boots to keep them happy (although of course, they don't NECESSARILY have to lick boots to keep them happy, but let's use the example of the Zeami licking boots play)
yah I think for now that's all i can think of.
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