Romance, Desire, and Sexuality: October 2016

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Week 6 reading questions

This week we have a lot of material to pull together: Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams's documentary Dream Girls, Makiko Yamanashi's chapter on young girls' culture and Takarazuka, Yoshiya Nobuko's short story "Forget-Me-Not," plus information from the lecture and a few example clips of Takarazuka performances.

I want you to consider Dream Girls and Yamanashi side-by-side, because they have very different responses to the lesbian undertones that are often attributed to the Takarazuka tradition. Aside from providing you with two conflicting points of view regarding this hot-button issue, the two studies also highlight the degree to which "documentary" materials (either in film or in writing) are invariably shaped by the director/author's agenda.

In contrast to Dream Girls and Yamanashi's chapter, which are both recently produced commentaries on female-female bonds, girls' culture, and the Takarazuka Revue, Yoshiya's "Forget-Me-Not" is a primary text from the prewar period. Although it does not deal with Takarazuka per-se, it does arise out of the same cultural milieu and addresses essentially the same constellation of issues.

Here are some questions to think about as you synthesize the different parts of the assignment.

Dream Girls

I'll start with the documentary Dream Girls. You can check the DVD out from the media collection in Green Library or watch it online here. Once you've seen the documentary, please consider the following questions:

1. How does the documentary present the Takarazuka performance style? What type of scenes do the documentary makers choose to show?

2. What about the interviews with the actors? How do they describe their careers? How do they talk about the status of otokoyaku (performers of male roles) and onnayaku (performers of female roles)?

3. How is the Takarazuka School presented in the documentary? What aspects of school life and curriculum are emphasized?

4. How does the documentary represent Takarazuka fans? How do they talk about the Revue and its actresses? What role does the Revue play in their lives? What accounts for their intense loyalty to Takarazuka?

5. How would you describe the documentary's agenda? How does this agenda shape its presentation of the material?

Yamanashi

Before posing any questions about Yamanashi's chapter, first let me clarify her position. Yamanashi is an independent scholar with close ties to the Takarazuka management, so you can view her account as an English-language version of the Revue's official history.

1. Yamanashi devotes considerable attention to the moga, or modern girl, a figure with which you are already familiar. How does Yamanashi describe the moga? What does she see as the salient features of this prewar feminine icon?

2. After considering the moga, Yamanashi turns her attention to the figure of the otome, or the virgin. She prefaces her discussion of this figure with a reference to a transition from a period of civilization and character to an era of culture and personality. What does this mean and how does it shape her subsequent discussion? What point is Yamanashi making with her discussion of purity and integrity as it relates to young women?

3. Yamanashi introduces the term ren'ai, or pure love, a key cultural concept to emerge in modern Japan. What is ren'ai? What is its role in prewar Japanese young girls' culture? And how is it different from concepts like giri (obligation), ninjô (emotion), and iro (desire) that we have already encountered in this class?

4. Yamanashi touches on the controversial topic of s-kankei or girl-girl bonds. What does she have to say about this widespread prewar social phenomenon? How does she connect it to Takarazuka and their fan base?

5. In her discussion of Takarazuka fan culture, Yamanashi refers to the concept of imagined communities. What does she mean by this term and how does she use it?

6. Throughout the chapter Yamanashi focuses on the issue of gender, specifically femininity. How does she conceive of gender? What does she suggest about the impact of Takarazuka and Takarazuka fandom on prewar notions of femininity? How does she interpret gender performance in Takarazuka and its impact on the Revue's mostly female fan base?

"Forget-Me-Not"

The other written document we will read this week is Yoshiya Nobuko's "Forget-Me-Not," a short story from her immensely popular collection titled Flower Tales.

1. How does the short story depict the emotional life of its female characters? Is their love "pure" or can you detect an erotic component?

2. How does the story depict femininity?

3. What gendered and romantic values does the story advocate?

4. The symbiotic relationship between prewar "young girls fiction" (shôjo bungaku) and the Takarazuka Revue is famous. Admittedly you are working from an extremely small sample, but how does the worldview, aesthetics and atmosphere of this story compare to that of the Takarazuka Revue? How are they similar and how are they different?

5. Although neither the documentary nor Yamanashi's chapter focuses on Yoshiya's fiction, their argument about the relevance of lesbian subculture to the Takarazuka Revue can easily be applied to works like "Forget-Me-Not." What, in your opinion, makes this short story so hard to pin down? Why is it so difficult, yet so tempting, to attribute a lesbian perspective not only to Yoshiya's fiction, but also to Takarazuka and prewar Japanese girls' culture in general?

6. Yoshiya is famous for incorporating elements from the writing style employed by girl students. How would you describe her written style? How does it contribute to the romantic atmosphere of the story?

JFK

In lecture on Tuesday I will show short clip from the Takarazuka production, JFK:

1. How would you describe the different elements of a Takarazuka performance: acting, musical numbers, settings, costumes, and makeup?

2. What strikes you as noteworthy about the plot lines?

3. What about the acting styles and modes of self presentation of the actresses who perform male roles and female roles?

4. Do these performances seem to offer a larger commentary on gender? Does the practice of using only female performers challenge or perpetuate conventional gender roles?

5. Outside of Japan, the response to Takarazuka has been tepid at best. This was especially the case when a traveling production performed on Broadway in the late 1990s. Why do you think US audiences were disappointed by their exposure to Takarazuka?

Miscellaneous

And here are a few general questions about the material.

1. How should we interpret the appeal of the Takarazuka Revue to its female fans? Does it offer them a free space to explore and experience more liberated expressions of gender and sexuality? Does it re-enforce normative gender and sexual roles through its policies and plot lines? Or does its appeal lie somewhere else?

2. For the first time in this class we are taking into account how consumers respond to cultural texts like a Takarazuka performance. To what extent, do you think, can fans interpret Takarazuka in ways that depart from the intentions of the Revue's management? Are there limits to fan interpretation? Does the producer/management side ultimately hold the upper hand?

3. Is the label lesbian applicable to any of this material? Are we dealing with a sexual identity or something else entirely?

4. Closely related to the preceding question: How would you define the female-female bonds presented in this material? How relevant is the world of commercial entertainment and fantasy to the real lives of women in Japan, even professed Takarazuka fans?

5. And finally what kind of commentary does this material offer on the Japanese male?

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Week 5 images

Here are the images from lecture.

Map of colonized Africa and Asia, early 20th century

Arrival of US navy ships, 1853

Boshin War, 1868

Emperor Meiji traveling from Kyoto to Tokyo, 1868

Emperor Meiji presenting constitution to heads of state, 1889

Emperor Meiji, r. 1868-1912

Emperor Taisho, r. 1912-26

Emperor Showa, r. 1926-89

Enlightened Japanese women in Western dress, c. 1885

Military training, c. 1875

Early textile factory, c. 1875

Japan's first train line, c. 1875

Downtown Tokyo, c. 1930

Consumer lifestyle in the modern family

Advertisement for popular magazine

Family time with popular magazine

Street-corner newspaper stand, c. 1933

Working ladies, c. 1930

Tanaka Kinuyo, Japan's most popular film star of the 1930s

Hayashi Fumiko, popular writer

Advertisement targeting female consumer

Modern girl

New women in pursuit of voting rights

School girl, c. 1920

Cafe waitresses, c. 1930

Izumi Shikibu, writer of poetic diary, 10th century

Sei Shônagon, writer of miscellaneous essays, 10th century

Avant-garde magazine, 1933

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Week 5 reading questions

Here are a few questions to think about as you read Hayashi Fumiko's Diary of a Vagabond

I. Artistic Aspiration, Creative Expression, Cultural Commentary, Poetic Elements

1. What role does the poetry play in the text?

2. How should we interpret the protagonist's literary and artistic aspirations? Are they distinct from her other occupations? Does it differentiate her from the other woman portrayed in the text?

3. How does her status as an aspiring writer differentiate her from the female characters we encountered in Edo-period works, like Life of an Amorous Woman or Love Suicides at Amijima?

4. In life Hayashi managed to publish her book and achieve remarkable literary success. Why does she leave this success out of her narrative? How would it change the narrative if it ended with a reference to her literary triumph?

5. As Gardner points out, the text contains innumerable references to different forms of cultural expression (classical poems, modern poems, popular songs, films, novels, etc.). What is the text saying about Japanese culture circa 1930? Is the protagonist primarily a producer of culture or a consumer of culture? Does she operate in the world of mainstream culture or some kind of subculture?

II. Social Class, Economic Class, Working Life, Financial Issues

6. Although Hayashi sympathetically depicts the conditions of the working class, left-wing activists and critics were very critical of the piece. What do you think was the source of their frustration with her work?

7. The narrator tries her hand at a mind-numbing variety of professions. Are there any that stand out? What role does work play in her life?

8. What role does money play in the narrative?

9. Does the narrative offer any type of commentary on the capitalist system?

10. Do the narrator's conflicts with male artists speak more to the issue of class or gender?

III. Sexuality, Desire, Love, Bodily Pleasure (e.g., food, etc.)

11. What is the narrator's attitude toward sex? Is it a source of pleasure, financial security, or emotional connection? Is it distinct from other sensuous experiences in her life, like eating?

12. How does the narrator's attitude toward sex differ from what we saw in Life of an Amorous Woman?

13. If Osan of Love Suicides at Amijima corresponds roughly to the archetype of the madonna and the protagonist of Life of an Amorous Woman to that of the whore, how does Diary of a Vagabond comment upon this traditional binary?

14. On occasion the protagonist is the victim of sexual violence. How do these incidents contribute to her portrait of a modern woman?

15. Near the end of the narrative, the protagonist establishes a close, possibly sexual relationship with another woman, Toki-chan. Why end the narrative on this note?

IV. Gender, Patriarchy, Familial Roles, Woman's Place in the World

16. The reception of this work is significant. It was huge commercial success, selling hundreds of thousands of copies, establishing Hayashi as a literary celebrity, and spawning various sequels and knock-offs. The text appealed most powerfully to young women. Why do you think this work exerted such a powerful impact on female readers in 1930?

17. Despite its popularity among women, Hayashi always claimed that her writing was not specifically aimed at women readers. Is that apparent in the text?

18. Is this a feminist or proto-feminist work?

19. How does Hayashi represent femininity, the status of women in society, and the bonds between women? How in particular does she depict the relationship between the protagonist and her mother?

20. Is the protagonist representative of all women or is she depicted as a unique individual?

21. How does Hayashi depict men? Do they conform to a single gender stereotype? What is the narrator's attitude toward men? What does she hope for in her relations with them?

22. Does the text focus more on the issue of gender than on class? Are these seen as separate issues or related?

Miscellaneous

23. What role does the opening play?

24. What genre does this piece belong to: Novel? Diary? Confession? Exposé of the modern girl? Poetic diary? Verbal montage? Avant-garde literary experiment?

25. What are some of the distinctive stylistic features of the text?

26. How does the structure of the narrative shape your experience of the material?

27. Would you describe this piece as realistic? Why or why not?

28. What is the dominant tone of the work: Playful? Belligerent? Sentimental? Or some mixture thereof?

29. What do you make of the fragmented progression of time? How specifically does this technique differ from the standard chronological progression of a work like Life of an Amorous Woman?

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Week 4 images

Here are some of the images that I showed in lecture today (plus a few that I didn't get to).

Image of Amida Buddha, late Heian period

Image of Amida Buddha greeting dead soul, late Heian period

Wife vendetta, 19th century

Honorable warrior suicide, 19th century

Dishonorable warrior suicide, 19th century

Idealized image of love suicide couple

Love suicide parody (mid 18th century)

Chanter, musician, and puppeteer, 19th century

Puppet theater chanter

Puppet theater musician

Puppeteers

Puppet theater libretto

Here is a scene from a production of Love Suicide at Amijima
Although the dialogue is a little different, this scene corresponds to pp. 74-75 of your translation.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Week 4 reading questions

Here are some questions to think about as you read the play.

1. How do the poetic devices shape the atmosphere of the narrative, especially the climactic "final journey" scene?

2. Why does Chikamatsu include so many allusions to classical poetry?

3. What about all his references to contemporary entertainment, especially his own plays?

4. Do all the fragments of the narration seem unified to you?

5. Given that there is no suspense (audiences already knew how the play would end), what is the function of the recitation of events leading to the suicide? What maintains the interest of the audience/reader?

6. Along with Saikaku, Chikamatsu epitomized the so-called realism of Edo-period entertainment. What are the realistic elements of this play? Can we dub a theatrical form that relies on puppets as realistic? Can we describe a narrative rife with so many literary and poetic elements as a medium for conveying realistic action?

7. What does the play imply about Edo-period gender roles. How are women and men represented? How does its representation of gender differ from what we saw in Saikaku?

8. Does Jihei and Koharu's relationship correspond to our notion of romantic love? Does ninjô (human emotion) equal love? How are emotional bonds between men and women portrayed? Are they presented as something different from the emotional bonds between parent and child, siblings, etc.?

9. How would you compare the representation of Jihei and Koharu's bond to the representation of Jihei's bond with Osan?

10. Is giri (obligation) only portrayed negatively?

11. Does the play ultimately come down on the side of giri or ninjô? Or does it offer a more complicated depiction of the interplay of these two principles?

12. What role does social class play in the drama? How in particular are chônin (urban commoners) portrayed? Does the play idealize them?

13. Does iro (desire) figure in the drama?

14. Does death replace sex as the climax of the play?

15. Are the religious allusions compelling? Were you convinced that there was a sincere spiritual component to the suicide? Is that the point?

16. How is the climactic suicide portrayed: romantic gesture, unnecessary tragedy, courageous act, or fated outcome?

17. How does Jihei and Koharu's suicide compare with the representation of violent acts depicted in the Great Mirror of Male Love?

And here are a few more questions to think about after you have watched the DVD in class on Tuesday.

18. What is the visual impact of the puppets? How does the use of puppets, as compared to live actors, affect your response to the material, especially the climactic suicide?

19. As you will note when you see the clip, one narrator recites all the elements of the script (dialogue, narrative description, stage directions, etc.). What is the effect of this convention?

20. Most premodern Japanese drama is musical. What is the impact of the musical elements, particularly the musical interludes when there is no recitation?

21. How does the performance cater to the expectations of the audience? Can you guess why this particular theatrical form would appeal so strongly to Edo-period audiences?