The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama
J Thomas Rimer editor Mitsuya Mori editor M Cody Poulton editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Columbia University Press
Published:13th May '14
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This anthology is the first to survey the full range of modern Japanese drama and make available Japan's best and most representative twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century works in one volume, providing a complete history of modern Japanese theater for students, scholars, instructors, and dramatists. Each section features an introduction to the developments and character of the period, notes on the plays' productions, and photographs of their stage performances.
This anthology is the first to survey the full range of modern Japanese drama and make available Japan's best and most representative twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century works in one volume. It opens with a comprehensive introduction to Meiji-period drama and follows with six chronological sections: "The Age of Taisho Drama"; The Tsukiji Little Theater and Its Aftermath"; "Wartime and Postwar Drama"; "The 1960s and Underground Theater"; "The 1980s and Beyond"; and "Popular Theater," providing a complete history of modern Japanese theater for students, scholars, instructors, and dramatists. The collection features a mix of original and previously published translations of works, among them plays by such writers as Masamune Hakucho (The Couple Next Door), Enchi Fumiko (Restless Night in Late Spring), Morimoto Kaoru (A Woman's Life), Abe Kobo (The Man Who Turned into a Stick), Kara Juro (Two Women), Terayama Shuji (Poison Boy), Noda Hideki (Poems for Sale), and Mishima Yukio (The Sardine Seller's Net of Love). Leading translators include Donald Keene, J. Thomas Rimer, M. Cody Poulton, John K. Gillespie, Mari Boyd, and Brian Powell. Each section features an introduction to the developments and character of the period, notes on the plays' productions, and photographs of their stage performances. The volume complements any study of modern Japanese literature and modern drama in China, Korea, or other Asian or contemporary Western nations.
An excellent representative sampling of modern Japanese drama and a substantial contribution not only to Japanese literature in translation but also to the body of Japanese scripts available in English for Western theater artists. -- Kevin J. Wetmore Jr., Loyola Marymount University Few anthologies are as comprehensive as this one, and the translators have done an admirable job in capturing the language and tone of each of the playwrights mentioned. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama will open up much of modern and contemporary Japanese theater work to a wider audience. -- David Jortner, Baylor University This anthology is extremely important, as its chronological span illustrates the drastic transition of Japanese theater in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. -- Yoko Shioya, artistic director, Japan Society The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama affords rich and detailed insights into the development of modern drama and provides an intimate sense of how theater contributes to Japan's modern history, culture, and self-identity. Thoroughly researched and beautifully presented, it will be an essential companion to the study of theater in Japan in the twentieth century. -- Peter Eckersall, the Graduate Center, City University of New York While not shunning canonical works, The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama promotes lesser-known-and exciting-dramatic texts, even dedicating a special chapter to 'popular theater.' In doing so, the volume fills gaps in the scholarship of drama literature from Japan. It is backed by informative introductions and essays that display fine and up-to-date scholarship in the field. -- Stanca Scholz-Cionca, University of Trier As well as providing definitive translations of a great range of works rarely published in the West, this Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama also interprets, explains, and analyzes the often misunderstood and complex journey Japanese drama has taken since the fall of the Tokugawa regime, creating, by the end, a strong argument for the uniqueness and importance of Japanese theater. -- Claire Hazelton Times Literary Supplement
ISBN: 9780231128308
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
736 pages