Questions de littérature japonaise

How do so-called “traditional” performing arts live and evolve in the present? This master’s-level course approaches traditional Japanese performing arts as living practices, shaped by artists who learn, perform, create, and engage with audiences. It explores the sometimes conflicting relationships between the transmission of artistic traditions, creative agency within codified forms, and the need to adapt to the contemporary world.
This focus on living practices also offers a way to examine the construction of heritage and the formation of canons. How do particular works, performance styles, schools, and artistic lineages acquire authoritative status? What differences emerge between the performing arts as represented in historical and scholarly accounts, the repertoires transmitted within schools, and what is actually presented on stage? Which practices are encouraged, and which are marginalised or prohibited?
To explore these questions, the course combines a historical and aesthetic introduction to the performing arts under study with the analysis of texts and audiovisual materials, alongside discussions and demonstrations with artists. Drawing on these exchanges, students will examine what it means to practise a traditional Japanese performing art today and how artists keep these practices alive. Analysing performances and the contexts in which they are presented will also enable students to consider how institutions, artistic programming, and different audiences help legitimise certain practices while making others less visible.
 

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:
- situate the main forms studied in their historical context and characterize their key features,
- contextualize the formation of a so-called classical repertoire and analyse the processes through which it has come to be recognized as a “canon”,
- develop a critical argument based on scholarly research and exchanges with artists,
- analyse the processes and conditions through which artistic knowledge is transmitted in the context of classical Japanese theatre.

  

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Salz, Jonah (dir.). A History of Japanese Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Emplacement : Bibliothèque des sciences humaines Simone Veil, Médias, communication et études culturelles (8NIV-NB) 8NIV 792.095.2 SALZ

Nakao, Kaoru et Diego Pellecchia, Noh: Japanese Classical Dance-drama, Londres/New York, Methuen Drama, 2025.
Emplacement : Bibliothèque des sciences humaines Simone Veil, Médias, communication et études culturelles (8NIV-NB) ; 8NIV 792.095.2 NAKA

Tschudin, Jean-Jacques, Histoire du théâtre classique japonais, Toulouse, Anacharsis, 2011.
Emplacement : Médias, communication et études culturelles (8NIV-NB) ; 8NIV 792.095.2 TSCH

Bortolotto, Chiara (ed.), Le patrimoine culturel immatériel. Enjeux d’une nouvelle catégorie, Paris, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2011, Vol.15, p.227-229.
Emplacement : texte disponible en ligne sur CIBLE+

AIKAWA-FAURE, Noriko, « L’excellence et l’authenticité : Trésors nationaux humains vivants. Les cas du Japon et de la Corée », Les Cahiers du CFPCI, no 6, Transmettre ! Savoir-faire, métiers d’art et patrimoine culturel immatériel, Maison des Cultures du Monde–Centre français du patrimoine culturel immatériel, p. 11-24.

YOKOYAMA, Tarō 横山太郎, « どこまでが能だったのか？歴史的に見た能の輪郭 » (Doko made ga nō datta no ka? — Rekishiteki ni mita nō no rinkaku), dans 能楽の現在と未来 (Nōgaku no genzai to mirai), coll. « 能楽研究叢書 » (Nōgaku kenkyū sōsho), no 5, Institut de recherche sur le nô de l’université Hōsei, 2015, p. 115-135.

 

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Additional information

The list of guest speakers and invited artists, as well as details of the performances accessible to students this year (gagaku, buyō dance, Noh theatre, etc.), is available on the Virtual University (see the calendar of events related to the course).

Contacts

Magali BUGNE : magali.bugne@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination
• Written report

written examination

• Open question with developed answer

Written report

Language(s) of evaluation

• french