Sponsored Collaborative Research 2018
A Re-examination of Phantom Noh from the Perspective of the Production of Ai-kyōgen Scripts and the Aikyōgen Narratives
Leader: NISHIMURA Satoshi
Members: ODA Sachiko, IWASAKI Masahiko, IKAI Takamitsu
The goal of this project is to publish editions of unedited texts relating to ai-kyōgen found in the collections Noh Theatre Research Institute and Kōzan Bunko collection at Hosei University. Hitherto, publication of ai-kyōgen transcriptions has tended to favor the Ōkura School. Transcribing and collecting texts of Izumi school and Sagi schools will make it possible to get an overview of the differences and historical development of the three schools, as well as to establish basic ai-kyōgen materials for the study of noh plays. Actors in the interval do not simply summarize or restate what the shite actor has already said, as is sometimes thought. Instead, the person involved in the action of the play (the shite) and the third person outsider (the ai) tend to express different points of view. By analyzing how these differences are reflected in the construction of noh plays, we can arrive at a new understanding and appreciation of noh, and especially of phantom plays. With this aim in mind, we will edit and introduce unpublished texts of the Izumi and Sagi schools, making them more widely available. Our aim is to assemble analyses of specific plays by re-evaluating phantom noh from the perspective of ai-kyōgen narratives. We hope that scholars will make active use of the newly edited texts, revitalizing the study of noh drama.
Research Methodology: In 2017, ai-kyōgen texts were chosen, photographed, and transcribed. The work of transcription was completed in 2018. Discussions were held regarding the wording of explanatory notes and introductory remarks. An additional text was photographed, the Sagi school text of interludes from the Mizuno Bunko Collection. Use of this will be made in the annotations of other texts and in study of noh plays. Three meetings will be held during the year for oral reports on textual matters and the analysis of plays analyses. In the first meeting (September), Ikai and Nishimura presented analyses of plays, in the second meeting (December), Tomiyama and Lee presented analyses of plays, while Nakatsuka and Oda gave oral presentations concerning texts. Their findings will be published in the form of annotations and papers.
