Overview

Kabuki is well known for its exaggerated acting, flamboyant costumes and makeup, and unnatural storylines. The onnagata, usually male actors who perform the roles of women, have been an important aspect of kabuki since its beginnings in the 17th century. In a ""labyrinth"" of gendering, the practice of men playing women's roles has affected the manifestations of femininity in Japanese society. In this case study of how gender has been defined and redefined through the centuries, Maki Isaka examines how the onnagata's theatrical gender ""impersonation"" has shaped the concept and mechanisms of femininity and gender construction in Japan. The implications of the study go well beyond disciplinary and geographic cloisters.

Full Product Details

Author:   Maki Morinaga ,  Maki Morinaga
Publisher:   University of Washington Press
Imprint:   University of Washington Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.522kg
ISBN:  

9780295995106

ISBN 10:   0295995106
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   01 January 2016
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments Note on Textual Conventions Part One | Fundamentals: Invitation to Labyrinths of Gendering Introduction: A Labyrinth of Onnagata 1. Geneses of a Maze: Androgyne Fatale Part Two | Femininity Inside Out: Onnagata Who Pass 2. Denial of Transience: Forfeiting the Androgynous Charm 3. Prescription for Femininity: Onnagata Who Pass 4. Canonization: Creating Onnagata Traditions 5. Femininity in Circulation: Texts in Kabuki, Kabuki in Texts Part Three | Marginalized Centers: Bodies and Personnel 6. Naturally Disciplined: Moving Real on Procrustean Beds 7. Female Onnagata in the Porous Labyrinth: The Enunciated Femininity and the Enunciating Masculinity Part Four | Origins of Onnagata: Modern Reformation 8. Toward Contemporary Onnagata: Art in Their Blood Epilogue: The Journey Continues Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

A well-researched and thorough historical study of the artificial and artistic construction of femininity by onnagata that provides a great deal of information as well as many thought-provoking insights. -- Akiko Kusunoki Early Modern Women

"""A well-researched and thorough historical study of the artificial and artistic construction of femininity by onnagata that provides a great deal of information as well as many thought-provoking insights."" -- Akiko Kusunoki * Early Modern Women * ""It is an important addition to the study of women performers in kabuki and supports the idea that onnagata is an action or performance"" -- Colleen Lanki * Asian Theater Journal * ""Isaka makes a number of important interventions in understanding how femininity is constructed and presented on the Japanese stage as well as in society as a whole.... The book’s exploration of gender performance goes far beyond the worlds of dramatic literature and theatrical performance."" -- Megan Ammirati * Theatre Survey * ""Isaka’s approach enables her to successfully situate onnagata within current discourse on gender identity.... Onnagata [is an] important additio[n] to the growing library of kabuki studies."" * Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *"

Author Information

Maki Isaka is associate professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures and affiliate faculty in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Secrecy in Japanese Arts: “Secret Transmission” as a Mode of Knowledge.

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