ABSTRACT
NODA:Iwonderwhenliteraturebecamethekingofculture. Literaturenowtriestoputalabeloneverything.Forliterature,puttingalabelonmeansdiscussingit.Ithinkitstarted aftertheMeijiperiodIdon'tthinkpeoplediditbeforethen. Thosewhowereengagedinpainting,singingandtheperformingartsduringtheEdoperioddidnottrytodosucha thing. KAWASAKI:ItwasalsoaftertheMeijiperiodbeganthatthe publicstartedtoreadworldliterature. NODA:Yes.WhatmakesJapanesesocietybadistheMeiji period KAWASAKI:Inotherwords,themodernperiod NODA:Yes,Ialwaysreachthatconclusion.Idon'tknowwhy JapandidsuchathingduringtheMeijiperiodWehadan independentculturebeforethen,butbecauseoftheMeijiRestorationinI868,Japanseemstohavecutitselfofffromall kindsofhistorybeforetheI860s. NodaHidekiandKawasakiToru,Onesantoissho,1991 1
MangaDiscourseandEarlyTheatricalTraditioninJapan
InhisdialoguewithcopywriterKawasaki,Nodadeploresthe currentconditionofkabukibecause"itstoppeddevelopingas contemporarytheaterandnolongerabsorbedimpactsfrom dailylife"(Noda1991b:172).Nodaattemptedinthe1980sto takeovertheprojectstartedbytheearliergenerationsofshOgekijo:toremovetheliteraryandintellectualstraightjacketimposedbytheWesternstyleofdramaticartsintroducedinMeiji Japan;andtoengenderanew,hybridizedgenreoftheateras entertainmentfilledwiththeeverydayimagesofJapaneselife. Thisquestdoes,infact,comeclosetothepremodernformof kabukiexistinginthelateEdointermsofitsabsorbingpopular nature.AsNodasuggestsinthedialogue,theissueofmodernization/Westernizationcontainedbyhisterm"literature"isthe
MangaDiscourseandJapaneseTheater
keyissueinexaminingthedevelopmentofJapanesetheater sincethebirthofthescript.TherapidtransitiontoWesternized culturalmodelsfollowingtheMeijiRestorationin1868,as Nodaargues,causedsomedistortiontothenaturalcourseof modernizationinJapanesetheater.BymovingtooquicklyJapancouldnotcompletelyriditselfofitsrigidgovernmentdirectedsystemsandspiritualities,whichcanbeseenlurking justbehindtheshinysurfaceofitsWesternaura.
