Makoto Ueno, 'Shinobu Orikuchi: Ancient Studies' (NHK Text)
☆mediopos2896 2022.10.22
In mediopos2822 (2022.8.9), I previously covered
the same author, Makoto Ueno's 'Shinobu Orikuchi: The Discovery of the "Marebito"', but
this NHK text is a broadcast-oriented digest of that work, and the content I have taken up this time is from
'Part 3: A History of the Performing Arts of the Wandering Performers',
which is related to
'Chapter 7: The Forms of Japanese Performing Arts' from the previous book.
Shinobu Orikuchi viewed performers as
'beings in whom the sacred and the profane are two sides of the same coin,'
finding value in the performers on the 'profane' side,
and arguing that this has had a profound influence on Japanese culture.
So-called 'vagabonds (gorotsuki)'
and 'kabuki-mono' (eccentrics/rebellious types),
as well as places known as 'akusho' (disreputable quarters),
all functioned in connection with such things.
Just as 'sterilization' has become common sense in the modern era,
there is a strong force at work
trying to exclude the 'profane,' which is deeply related to the 'performing arts,' from the world of the public.
Fundamentally speaking,
just as light and darkness are two sides of the same coin,
the sacred and the profane are also two sides of the same coin,
but in the everyday world, this is hidden from view,
and it can be said that the world of the 'performing arts'
is what allows us to balance that biased world
within an extraordinary state of being.
When everyday moral values are brought into the world of the 'performing arts,' as they are in the modern era,
the 'darkness' that existed there loses its place to go.
However, even if they appear to have disappeared from the surface,
they begin to work even more strongly,
in more ingenious forms,
or from invisible, dangerous places.
This is fundamentally the same as
souls being spoiled as they wander through the darkness without knowing it within a managed society,
or as immunity is lost within a 'sterilized' society.
Fair is foul,
foul is fair.
When the 'performing arts' way of being,
which symbolizes the sacred and the profane as they are,
as epitomized by that proverbial saying,
is erased from the public sphere,
we may also be afflicted with an incurable disease of the soul
without even knowing it.
■ Makoto Ueno, 'Shinobu Orikuchi: Ancient Studies'
(October 2022, NHK Text, NHK Publishing, 2022/9)
(From 'Part 3: A History of the Performing Arts of the Wandering Performers')
Shinobu Orikuchi viewed performers as 'beings in whom the sacred and the profane are two sides of the same coin.' They were beings who performed for the gods and bestowed blessings upon people, while at the same time, as 'low-ranking religious figures,' they were sometimes subjected to discrimination. In one sense, they were 'objects of longing,' but that could flip in an instant. Regarding this point, there is a structure similar to that of modern entertainers. For example, it reminds one of how, as soon as a scandal involving a highly popular celebrity is revealed, they are consumed as fodder for gossip. In any case, Orikuchi believed that the performing arts had various aspects. That is precisely why he recognized the value of performers on the 'profane' side and focused on the role they played in Japanese culture. I believe this is where the extremely unique characteristics of Orikuchi studies lie. For example, in 'Ancient Studies,' there is a passage that explicitly mentions 'gorotsuki' (vagabonds).
When one speaks of vagabonds (gorotsuki) and the like, one can only think of them as something like a tumor on society. However, there was a time in Japan when these vagabonds constituted a major element of society. Moreover, they are seen to have exerted a particularly great force in artistic movements. ('Stories of Vagabonds / 1: The Meaning of Vagabond', Complete Works Vol. 3, p. 22)
The term 'gorotsuki' carries the meaning of 'rogues' who have no fixed address or occupation, wander here and there, and sometimes use threats. Generally, gorotsuki were thought to be rogues who existed from the Muromachi period to the Edo period, but Orikuchi re-evaluated them as people with a much longer history, who moved society while changing their appearance from era to era, and who were the driving force behind the creation of performing arts and literature. And he expanded the scope of the term 'gorotsuki' not just to mere vagabonds, but to low-ranking religious figures and even to the 'kabuki-mono' who sublimated their existence into Kabuki. The verb 'kabuku' originally meant to tilt. In other words, it means not to be moderate, but to tilt significantly to the right or to the left. Those who made this their creed for living were the 'kabuki-mono.' Those who wear flashy clothes and behave wildly without caring about the eyes of the world are 'kabuki-mono.' On the other hand, those who seek a way of life that masters love and romance without being bound by social standing or money, or a way of life that upholds what is right even if they have to sacrifice themselves, are also 'kabuki-mono.' They are, so to speak, people who live rebellious lives. It is 'Kabuki' that shows such a 'kabuku' (rebellious/eccentric) way of life on stage. Even today, there is all sorts of gossip, but I think today's Kabuki actors have become more upright than in the past. Since Kabuki is an art that shows the audience the way of life itself, I would like them to do something wild and unconventional at times to entertain us. Also, in a class society, it is natural for those in the lower classes to have feelings of resentment toward those in the upper classes. Orikuchi also thought that the performing arts functioned as one of the ways to express that resentment. (...) The performing arts of the vagabond groups, that is, the performing arts of those who resist authority, were driven by the passion born from resisting pressure from above. Orikuchi believed that as this vertical relationship harmonized, their art suddenly lost its luster. It means that the art of the vagabond groups shines only in a certain kind of precarious situation. Orikuchi understood the performing arts, including the dark side that clung to them. At the root of Shinobu Orikuchi's history of the performing arts lies a deep, deep understanding of and affection for 'vagabonds,' 'kabuki-mono,' and 'vagabond groups.'
Just as the yose (vaudeville theaters) were once called 'akusho' (disreputable quarters), the performing arts were not a subject to be discussed from an academic perspective until then. Rather, they were despised as something base. Orikuchi redefined them as something valuable to the hearts and culture of the Japanese people and pioneered the field of performing arts criticism. Among Orikuchi's disciples are people like Koji Toita and Haruo Ima, who became active as performing arts critics and broadcast writers. As we have seen, the history of the performing arts is an extension of the emergence of Japanese literature, and it can be said that it is a field where the characteristics of Orikuchi studies were fully demonstrated.