81587 - Theatre in Asia (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Through this course, the student will: - acquire knowledge about the origins and development of the main Asians theaters; - know how to contextualize Asian theaters within an appropriate historical and anthropological framework; - develop skills in research and interpretation of relevant documentary evidences (oral and written). He or she will also: - be able to recognize and interpret the aesthetic and theatrical principles underlying the different languages of the Asian theater; - know how to decode, on a cultural and theatrical plan, the main Asian models of theater; - be able to interpret the intercultural dynamics between Eastern and Western theatrical traditions.

Course contents

In the Body of the Other: The Performative Construction of Gender in Asian Theatres

After a brief introduction to the principal treatises that codify Asia's theatrical traditions and to their anthropological and cultural context, the course will focus on the performative construction of gender, showing how, within the performative contexts under consideration, the correspondence between the performer's sex and that of the character has never constituted an essential requirement.
Through the analysis of case studies from Japan (nō, kyōgen, kabuki, bunraku, and the Takarazuka Revue), China (Peking Opera), and India (with particular reference to bharatanāṭyam and oḍissī), the course will examine both male interpretations of female roles and female interpretations of male roles, highlighting the processes of codification, acting strategies, and the aesthetic, cultural, and anthropological implications of these performative practices.

Readings/Bibliography

- Giovanni Azzaroni e Matteo Casari, Asia il teatro che danza, Le Lettere, Firenze, 2011.

-Matteo Casari, Teatro, vita di Mei Lanfang. Con la traduzione integrale di Addio mia concubina, CLUEB, Bologna, 2003.

- Claudia Iazzetta, Tomoe. La donna che visse due volte, Aracne, Roma, 2025.

- Matteo Casari e Giuditta de Concini, a cura di, Danzare il Nāṭya. Permanenze e trasformazioni del teatro-danza indiano, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 5, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna, solo pp. 99-125 (free download).

 

Not attending students will also have to prepare on a text chosen from:

Azzaroni Giovanni, Sguardi sul corpo tra Oriente e Occidente. Studi di antropologia filosofica, Bologna, CLUEB, 2019.

- Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Malaysia – Indonesia – Filippine – Giappone, vol. I, CLUEB, Bologna, 1998, solo pp. 273-388.

- Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Myanmar – Thailandia – Laos – Kampuchea – Viêt Nam, vol. II, CLUEB, Bologna, 2000, solo pp. 273-388.

- Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Tibet – Cina – Mongolia – Corea, vol. III, CLUEB, Bologna, 2003, solo pp. 101-256.

- Azzaroni Giovanni, Teatro in Asia. Nepal, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, vol. IV, CLUEB, Bologna, 2006, solo pp. 149-338.

-Bharata, Nātyaśāstra. L’arte del teatro indiano, versione di Adya Rangacharya, Bulzoni, Roma, 2024.

- Casari Matteo, Teatro nō. La via dei maestri e la trasmissione dei saperi, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.

- Casari Matteo e Elena Cervellati, a cura di, Butō. Prospettive europee e sguardi dal Giappone. Omaggio o Ōno Kazuo, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 6, 2015, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download [http://amsacta.unibo.it/4352/] )

- Centonze Katja, ed., Avant-gardes in Japan. Anniversary of Futurism and Butō: Performing Arts and Cultural Practices between Contemporariness and Tradition, Cafoscarina, Venezia, 2010, solo pp. 27-171.

- Alessandra Consonni, a cura di, ‘Cham yig, CLUEB, Bologna, 2008.

- Covito Carmen, Sadayakko, la Duse del Giappone. Cronache della prima tournée giapponese in Italia (1902), CLUEB, Bologna, 2023.

- Cuneo Daniele, Ganser Elisa, Pensare l’attore. Le fonti sanscrite, Unicopli, Milano, 2024.

- Margherita De Giorgi, "To be renewed again". Esperienze di butō in Europa: Yvonne pouget, Imre Thormann e Xavier Le Roy, in Arti della Performance: orizonti e culture, n. 2, 2012, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna, solo pp.1-183 (free download [http://amsacta.unibo.it/3565/] ).

- Guidi Alessandro, Lo Yueji. Il pensiero musicale nelle Cina antica, CLUEB, Bologna, 2005.

- Morotti Fabio, Teatro e danza in Cambogia, Editoria&Spettacolo, Riano, 2010.

- Nandikeshvara, Abhinayadarpaṇa, trad. it. di Pietro Chierichetti, Alfredo Ferrero Editore, Torino, 2010.
- Gioia Ottaviani, I fondamenti del teatro in Asia, Aracne, Roma, 2004.

- Ruperti Bonaventura, Storia del teatro giapponese. Dall’Ottocento al Duemila, Marsilio, Venezia, 2016.

- Scholz-Cionca Stanca e Balme Christofer, Nō Theatre Transversal, iudicium, München, 2008.

- Toscano Cinzia, Il teatro dei robot. La meccanica delle emozioni nel Robot-Human Theatre di Hirata Oriza, CLUEB, Bologna, 2019.

- Umali A., Umewaka N.; Casari M, eds, Nō Theater and Cultural Diplomacy. With a Glimpse into Philippine Practices, in Arti della Performance: orizzonti e culture, n. 11, 2018, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, Dipartimento delle Arti e ALMADL, Bologna (free download http://amsacta.unibo.it/6034/ )

- Zeami Motokiyo, Il segreto del teatro nō, Adelphi, Milano, 1987 (o successive edizioni).

Teaching methods

The teaching will be a balanced mix of theoretical and practical examples, in anthropological context, in order to allow all students to be able to reach the final target.

Assessment methods

During the lessons the lecturer will involve the students in an active discussion of the lesson topics. The exchanges will be addressed to bringing out any difficulties concerning the subject matter, but not to actually forming part of the final mark.
The final exam will consist of an oral test. The exam will be the chance for the student to prove his/her knowledge of the course books. Students attending the class may refer their answers back to the topics actually analyzed in class.
Students studying the course set books, especially the core text, should pay attention to the fundamental aspects of the topics and, of course, to the ways in which they are connected to one another rather than to learn by rote.

The exame will take account of the propriety and the adequacy of oral linguistic expression:

30 cum laude: excellent performance showing soundness of knowledge, rich discursive articulation, appropriate expression, interest of critical contribution;
30: Excellent performance, complete, and appropriate knowledge, well-articulated and appropriately expressed, with interesting critical contributions;
29-27: Good performance, more than satisfactory knowledge, correct expression.
26-24: Standard performance, essential knowledge, but not comprehensive and / or not always correctly expressed;
23-21: Sufficient performance, general but superficial knowledge; often inappropriate expression and/or confused articulation of speech;
20-18: Poor performance, sufficient expression and articulation of speech with significant gaps;
<18: Insufficient performance, knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of orientation in the discipline, poor and seriously flawed expression.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Dance performances videos relating to the topics presented during the course. Meetings with experts and artists.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Casari