2018 The International Workshop -Columbia University
“Japanese Theater, Publishing Culture, and Authorship”

 

March 2 (Friday), 2018, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
March 3 (Saturday), 2018, 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University, New York City

Sponsors:
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University
Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture, Columbia University
Global Japanese Studies Model Unit, Waseda University – Top Global University Project (MEXT)
Ryusaku Tsunoda Center for Japanese Culture, Waseda University

Presenters：
Ryūichi Kodama (Waseda University)
Haruo Shirane (Columbia University)
Tomi Suzuki (Columbia University)
Mikio Takemoto (Waseda University)
Misa Umetada (Waseda University)

Discussants：
Lewis Cook (Queens College of the City University of New York)
Kazuaki Komine (Waseda University)
Sung-si Lee (Waseda University)
Mo Li (Columbia University)
Yuika Kitamura (Kobe University)
Satoko Shimazaki (University of Southern California)
Shiho Takai (Waseda University)

Organizers：
Haruo Shirane (Columbia University)
Tomi Suzuki (Columbia University)
Hirokazu Toeda (Waseda University)

Closing Remarks：
Sung-si Lee (Waseda University)

In the premodern and early modern periods when cultural production often emerges out of imitation, reference, borrowing, adaptation, and collaborative works, how can we think of the issues of authorship and ownership? This workshop rethinks the notion of the “author” by moving away from an author-centric model to consider collective and collaborative production, especially, theater, performance, and their publications. This workshop follows up on the earlier symposium “Rethinking Authorship in Japan and the World” (March 2017).

Friday, March 2, 2018
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Session 1. Writing, Performance, and Transmission: Rethinking Authorship in Comparative Context
2:10 PM – 3:30 PM
Presenter: Haruo Shirane (Columbia University) [in English]
Respondent: Kazuaki Komine (Waseda University)
Discussants: Mikio Takemoto (Waseda University), Ryūichi Kodama (Waseda University), Lewis Cook (Queens College of the City University of New York)

In the first session, Haruo Shirane gave a dynamic presentation on meanings of authorship and authorial functions in premodern Japan as highly dependent on genre, media, social status, and social organization. Key concepts included the necessity of authors in high genres (such as waka) versus low genres (such as monogatari), the centrality of copying and borrowing as pedagogical tools and key modes of production in East Asian culture, and the blurry boundary between authors and readers in Japanese participatory culture from premodern waka to contemporary manga. Respondent, Kazuaki Komine, emphasized the importance of Shirane’s discussion of authorship in Japan’s “participatory culture.” By rethinking authorship from the point of view of “participatory culture,” the genres that were considered secondary, such as monogatari, setsuwa, and performative genres, can be reevaluated. Discussants, Mikio Takemoto and Ryūichi Kodama added some comments from their specialties, noh and kabuki. Kodama emphasized the importance of images in monumentalizing events. Lewis Cook clarified that events do not have to be repeated in order to become monumental. Open discussion followed, including the role of the texts and patrons in monumentalizing events.

Session 2. Noh Theater and Authorship
3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Presenter: Mikio Takemoto (Waseda University)
Discussants: Kazuaki Komine, Ryūichi Kodama, Haruo Shirane

In the second session, Mikio Takemoto discussed authorship in noh from various aspects – the historical development of modern scholarship of noh authors, premodern interests in identification of noh authors, and production-related issues, such as rewritings – while examining various historical documents. Discussants Kazuaki Komine, Ryūichi Kodama, and Haruo Shirane pointed out some recurring issues and extrapolated some important aspects in considering noh theater and authorship, such as the deification of Zeami and the ie system, the roles Westerners played in “discovering” literary quality in noh plays and the development of noh studies in Japan, and the question of the relationship between amateur performers and professional performers. Open discussion followed, including how noh plays were performed during the time of Zeami.

Saturday, March 3, 2018
9:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Session 3. Kabuki and Authorship
9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Presenter: Ryūichi Kodama (Waseda University)
Presenter: Misa Umetada (Waseda University)
Discussants: Mo Li (Columbia University), Satoko Shimazaki (University of Southern California), Shiho Takai (Waseda University)

In the third session, Ryūichi Kodama and Misa Umetada presented on authorship and kabuki. First, Kodama presented on the treatment of “authors” in kabuki in a larger context, including the relationship between authors and actors and the issue of co-authorship and anonymity in kabuki and jōruri. Umetada discussed how late Edo to early Meiji kabuki author Kawatake Mokuami dealt with the new concept of authorship by examining concrete examples of copyright registrations and court trials of copyright disputes. The discussants, Mo Li, Satoko Shimazaki, and Shiho Takai commented on some issues, including the meaning of identifying and emphasizing a particular author in co-authored plays. Open discussion followed, considering issues of kabuki authors’ anonymity and uniqueness, modern copyright law and the sense of authorship in kabuki, and the acknowledgement of authors in contemporary kabuki performances.

Session 4. Modern Authorship in Comparative Context
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM
Presenter: Tomi Suzuki (Columbia University)
Discussants: Yuika Kitamura (Kobe University)

In the forth session, Tomi Suzuki discussed how the issues of “authors” in modern Japan emerged in close relationship with the introduction and institutionalization of the modern Western notions of literature, through examining a wide range of aspects such as publishing culture, small coterie magazines, higher education, and Japan’s joining the Berne Convention (the basis of today’s international copyright laws). Following the presentation, the discussants and participants discussed issues such as the concept of “bungō (literary masters)” and the separation of the terms “hon’yaku (translation)” and “hon’an (adaptation),” and how translation and adaptation are also creative processes essential in participatory culture.

Closing Remarks
12:45 PM – 1:00 PM
Sung-si Lee (Waseda University)

In closing remarks, Sung-si Lee emphasized the importance of the mechanics of participatory culture, which are not only applicable to classical Japanese performances, but also useful in analyzing modern media. Lee also introduced some examples of participatory culture in other East Asian countries, and suggested the possibility of discussing participatory culture and authorship in the comparative context of East Asia.