Onnagata: A Labyrinth of Gendering in Kabuki Theater

by Maki Isaka

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295806242
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	01/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	476 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

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.

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

What People are Saying About This

Jan Bardsley

"Isaka’s study draws on extensive archival research and rigorous engagement with theory, analyzing the intersections of gender, culture, and performance on the kabuki stage. A welcome addition to Japanese studies, this book will inspire students and scholars alike to contemplate kabuki’s onnagata in new and insightful ways."

Nina Cornyetz

"Onnagata is a meticulously researched and documented, original and unprecedented, intellectually rigorous and bold study of the history of the kabuki onnagata, or as it signifies today, the biologically male player of female roles in kabuki."

Editorial Reviews

"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

"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."

Early Modern Women - Akiko Kusunoki

"It is an important addition to the study of women performers in kabuki and supports the idea that onnagata is an action or performance"

Asian Theater Journal - Colleen Lanki

"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."

Theatre Survey - Megan Ammirati