Realisms in East Asian Performance

• Other Authors: Nakamura, Jessica (Editor), Saltzman-Li, Katherine (Editor)
• Format: Electronic Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: University of Michigan Press 2023
• Subjects: Theatre studies; Realism, Theatrical realism, Kabuki, Genroku Era, yakusha hyobanki, role types, Jingju, xuni, Picking up a Jade Bracelet, Cha Bumseok, Yeoldaeeo, Korean realism theater, Park Kunhyung, Theater of the everyday, Ilsanggeuk, In Praise of Youth, Don't Be Too Surprised, affective realism, theater of the real, postsocialist theater, Meng Jinghui, Wang Chong, Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental, Thunderstorm 2.0, Grass Stage Caotaiban, huaju, Li Ning, J-Town Physical Guerrillas Lingyunyan jiti youjidui, Pansori, Jeokbyeokga, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shin Tsukiji Theater, The Laughing Letter, Yagi Ryuichiro, Kinogusa Teinosuke, Senda Koreya, kinodrama, Hirata Oriza, Seigfried Kracauer, Tokyo Notes, Gendai kogo engeki, Yoshida Bunzaburo, Bunraku, puppet theater, emotional realism, realism of the everyday, Yun Baek-nam, Destiny Unmyung, Shinpa, Shinpaguk, Huang Zuolin, Michel Saint-Denis, Jin Yunzhi, Danni, xieyi, xieshi, Okada Toshiki, Iwai Hideto, Matsui Shu
• Online Access: OAPEN Library: download the publication; OAPEN Library: description of the publication

Existing scholarly discussions of theatrical realism have been predominantly limited to 19th-century European and Russian theater, with little attention paid to wider explorations and alternative definitions of the practice. Examining theater forms and artists from China, Japan, and Korea, Realisms in East Asian Performance brings together a group of theater historians to reconsider realism through the performing arts of East Asia. The book's contributors emphasize trans-regional conversations and activate inter-Asian dialogues on theatrical production. Tracing historical trajectories, starting from premodern periods through today, the book seeks to understand realisms' multiple origins, forms, and cultural significances, and examines their continuities, disruptions, and divergences. In its diversity of topics, geographic locations, and time periods, Realisms in East Asian Performance aims to globalize and de-center the dominant narratives surrounding realism in theater, and revise assumptions about the spectacular and theatrical forms of Asian performance. Understanding realism as a powerful representational style, chapters collectively reevaluate acts of representation on stage not just for East Asia, but for theater and performance studies more broadly.