Revue as a Liminal Theatre Genre: A comparative, interdisciplinary approach to contexts and characteristics of revues in transitional modern times Makiko Yamanashi Submission to the department of Japanologie in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Universität Trier, Fachbereich II (Sprach-, Literatur- und Medienwissenschaften) Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Andreas Regelsberger Prof. Dr. Stanca Scholz-Cionca February 15, 2019 Eidesstattliche Erklärung Hiermit erkläre ich an Eides statt, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und nur mit den angegebenen Hilfsmitteln verfasst habe und die wörtlich oder dem Inhalt nach aus fremden Arbeiten entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht sind. Ferner versichere ich, dass ich die gleiche Arbeit noch nicht für eine andere wissenschaftliche Prüfung eingereicht und mit der gleichen Abhandlung weder bereits einen Doktorgrad erworben noch einen Doktorgrad zu erwerben versucht habe. Trier, / / ABSTRAKT Diese Dissertation behandelt die Revue als ein bedeutendes interkulturelles Genre in der Geschichte des globalen Theaters. Während der „Modernisierungsphase“ in Europa, Amerika und Japan erlebten die meisten großen Städte einen Boom an Revue-Locations und - Darbietungen. Bisher wurden nur wenige Studien zur Revue in den Theater- oder Stadtkulturstudien (urban cultural studies) durchgeführt. Mit Hilfe des Konzepts der Liminalität bewertet und definiert meine Dissertation Revue als hochgradig interkulturelles Theater-Genre neu. Die Revue wird als ein Genre untersucht, das auf ‘moderner Komposition der Zwischenmenschlichkeit’ aufgebaut ist und scheinbar gegensätzliche Elemente überbrückt, wie das Fremde und das Inländische, das Klassische und das Innovative, das Traditionelle und Moderne, das Professionelle und das Laienhafte, die Hoch- und Niedrigkultur, das Weibliche und das Männliche. Das Ziel ist es, Revue als ein liminales Genre zu betrachten, welches inmitten der Verhandlungen zwischen diesen binären, sich in ständigem Fluss befindenden Gegensätzen aufgebaut ist. Der Zweck dieses Ansatzes besteht darin, Revuen als vorübergehende Phänomene in fünf Dimensionen zu erfassen: konzeptuell, räumlich, zeitlich, kategorial und physisch. Im Laufe von sechs Kapiteln wird diese interdisziplinäre Diskussion die Gründe und Wege aufzeigen, mit denen sich die Revue zu einer herausragenden Position in der japanischen Theaterindustrie entwickelt hat. Dieser Ansatz ist auch ein Versuch, soziologische Überlegungen auf die Theaterwissenschaft plausibel anzuwenden. i ABSTRACT This thesis discusses revue as a significantly inter-cultural genre in the history of global theatre. During the ‘modernisation’ period in Europe, America and Japan, most major urban cities experienced a boom in revue venues and performances. Few studies about revue have yet been done in theatre studies or in urban cultural studies. My thesis will attempt to reevaluate and redefine revue as a highly inter-cultural theatre genre by using the concept of liminality. In other words, the aim is to examine revue as a genre built on ‘modern composition of betweenness’, bridging seemingly opposing elements, such as the foreign and the domestic, the classic and the innovative, the traditional and the modern, the professional and the amateur, high and low culture, and the feminine and the masculine. The goal is to regard revue as a liminal genre constructed amidst the negotiations between these binaries, existing in a state of constant flux. The purpose of this approach is to capture revue as a transitory phenomena in five dimensions: conceptual, spatial, temporal, categorical and physical. Over the course of six chapters, this inter-disciplinary discussion will reveal the reasons why and the ways by which revue came to establish its prominent position in the Japanese theatre industry. The whole structure is also an attempt to provide plausible ways to apply sociological considerations to theatre studies. iii Table of Contents Abstract i Table of Contents iv Technical Notes vi Introduction 1 Chapter One 11 Liminality as an Analytical Tool to Contextualise Revue – Theoretical Liminality 11 1.1 Anthropological Concept by Bjørn Thormassen 11 1.2 Philosophical Concept by Shinohara Motoaki 15 1.3 Theatrical Concept by Kamiyama Akira 17 1.4 In and Between Passages – the Cradle of Revue and its Liminal Experience 20 Chapter Two 30 Revue as a Metaphor of Urban Modernity – Temporal and Spatial Liminality 30 2.1 European Cities and Revue Trend: London, Paris, Berlin 32 2.2 City as a Performative Site: Expositions, Theme Parks, Revues 47 2.3 Reconfirming the Scope of Modernity 54 Chapter Three 57 Characteristics of Revue – Categorical Liminality 57 3.1 Heterotopia: Melting Pot of Other Genres and Worlds 59 3.2 Stage Composition – Based on the Analysis of Nakamura Akiichi 61 3.3 The Age of ‘S’ 67 3.4 In Between Theatre and Cinema: Filmic Features – Speed, Electric Lighting and Montage 70 Chapter Four 81 The Rise of Revue in Japan – Medial Liminality and Tokyo Spatial Liminality 81 4.1 The Revue Boom Seen through Publications: Medial Liminality 82 4.2 Area Demarcation in Tokyo and Revue in Transition: Metropolitan Liminality 85 ● Yokohama ● Ueno ● Asakusa ● Tsukiji ・Ginza ● Hibiya 4.3 Overview of Modern Tokyo 105 iv Chapter Five 112 Japanese Women on Stage between Tradition and Modernity – Physical and Gender Liminality 112 5.1 Girls as Liminal Persona: ‘Flâneuse’ of the City and of the Theatre World 113 5.2 Atarashii-onna, School Girls and Modern Girls 115 5.3 The Rise of Joyū: Dancer, Singer, Magician and Revue Girls 120 5.4 New Theatrical Genres for Girls and Women 130 Chapter Five 138 Takarazuka Revue as a Prototype of Liminal Theatre 138 6.1 The Liminal Traffic in Flux and the Ambiguous Identity: Theoretical Liminality 138 6.2 Takarasiennes: Physical and Gender Liminality 140 6.3 From Takarazuka Spa Town to Hibiya, then, to the World: Spatial Liminality 146 6.4 Anachronistic Wayō-settchū: Categorical Liminality 152 6.5 Case Study 1: Translating the West: Mon Paris (1927) 155 6.6 Case Study 2: Performing the Tokyo Modern: Haruno-odori Ryūsenbi (1935) 161 Conclusion 167 Theatres at Crossroads: Inter-cultural Review of Revue Bibliography 176 Appendix 204 v TECHNICAL NOTES Japanese personal names are written in the conventional Japanese order, i.e. surname followed by given name. As for Japanese nouns such as book titles and theatre production titles, the official English titles where available, otherwise my own translations, are used. Translation of the quotations from Japanese books, Takarazuka scenarios and lyrics is by the author unless otherwise noted. Macrons have been omitted from common place-names such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. Words which have entered the English language are not italicized. As set out in the table of contents, this thesis consists of six chapters, each with sections. Japanese and English references are listed together in alphabetical order. If book is a reprint of the original with new page numbers, such as Nakamura Akiichi (1935), this thesis follows the page numbers of the original publication. vi INTRODUCTION A spectre is haunting the imperial city – the spectre of revue. (The Age of Revue, May 1931) 1 The first edition of Revū-jidai (The Age of Revue), the Japanese theatre magazine exclusively dedicated to revue, parodied Marx and Engels’ famous communist manifesto ‘Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa – das Gespenst des Kommunismus’ in order to describe the phenomenal revue boom in Tokyo. The ‘haunting’ was not only in Japan’s metropolis, but was preceded in the European cities of Paris and Berlin or in the American city of New York. This genre called revue matured in Europe and America and by the 1930s had become an international trend. Although revue in the realm of theatre is usually known as a somewhat superficially lavish visual spectacle, it is deep down like a ‘spectre’ which invades the theatre realm and escapes any concrete, universal definition. One may have a vague image, but what is revue precisely? How can its definable identity be grasped? A certain image of revue exits amongst people across the globe, but it is ethereal, like the image of a phantom whose outline blurs depending on where and when it appears. Given its nature, it is necessary to start pinning down the image at a public level by looking at its general definitions in common dictionaries, and then qualifying them by examining more professional academic interpretations written by theatre study specialists. Relatively similar descriptions of revue are found in dictionaries such as The New Oxford Illustrated Dictionary (1981), where revue is defined as ‘theatrical entertainment purporting to give a review (often satirical) of current fashions, events, etc.; (freq.) entertainment consisting of numerous unrelated scenes or episodes.’ As in this English explanation of ‘review’, the literal origin of revue derives from the French word ‘revoir’, meaning to review, i.e. to view news and trends all over again. So as in a newspaper scrapbook, the theatrical presentation can be seen as a succession of pictorial frames which are not necessarily related to each other. The French dictionary, Le Petit Larousse Illustré (2005, 100e edition), defines revue as ‘spectacle comique ou satirique evoquant des événements de l’actualité, des personages connus’ and also as ‘spectacle de music-hall comportant une succession de tableaux fastueux, animus par des danseuses légèrement’. In addition to the musical entertainment aspect, the French