DR. MAKI ISAKA Kabuki was born in the early seventeenth century as a form of popular entertainment combining music, dance, and acting. In the all-male world of kabuki, actors who specialized in women’s roles are known as onnagata. Although onnagata emerged in the early days of kabuki, their characteristics, lifestyles, and pubic persona have changed immensely over the course of history. This talk will provide an introduction about onnagata acting and will discuss their performance of gender, the differences between premodern and modern onnagata, and the cultural training by which male onnagata actors become performers of femininity. Dr. Maki Isaka teaches Japanese theater, premodern literature, and gender studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has published on the the philosophy of premodern Japanese arts, the “New Theater” movement in modern Japan, and gender and onnagata on the kabuki stage. Sponsored by the Japan Foundation, WMU’s Soga Japan Center, and the Department of World Languages and Literatures Contact: (269) 387-3044 [email protected] Thursday, Oct 24, 2013 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Keeping up Appearances: Gender and Theater in Premodern Japan
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DR. MAKI ISAKA
Kabuki was born in the early seventeenth century as a form of popular entertainment combining music, dance, and acting. In the all-male world of kabuki, actors who specialized in women’s roles are known as onnagata. Although onnagata emerged in the early days of kabuki, their characteristics, lifestyles, and pubic persona have changed immensely over the course of history. This talk will provide an introduction about onnagata acting and will discuss their performance of gender, the differences between premodern and modern onnagata, and the cultural training by which male onnagata actors become performers of femininity.
Dr. Maki Isaka teaches Japanese theater, premodern literature, and gender studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has published on the the philosophy of premodern Japanese arts, the “New Theater” movement in modern Japan, and gender and onnagata on the kabuki stage.
Sponsored by the Japan Foundation, WMU’s Soga Japan Center, and the Department of World Languages and Literatures
Contact: (269) 387-3044 [email protected]
Thursday, Oct 24, 2013 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss
Keeping up Appearances: Gender and Theater in Premodern Japan
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