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Journalof the HUMANITIES The International JOURNALof the HUMANITIES Volume 6, Number 9 Performativity of Japanese Laughter Mio Bryce and Hanae Katayama www.humanities-journal.com THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES http://www.Humanities-Journal.com First published in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia by Common Ground Publishing Pty Ltd www.CommonGroundPublishing.com. © 2009 (individual papers), the author(s) © 2009 (selection and editorial matter) Common Ground Authors are responsible for the accuracy of citations, quotations, diagrams, tables and maps. All rights reserved. Apart from fair use for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act (Australia), no part of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. For permissions and other inquiries, please contact <[email protected]>. ISSN: 1447-9508 Publisher Site: http://www.Humanities-Journal.com THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES is a peer refereed journal. Full papers submitted for publication are refereed by Associate Editors through anonymous referee processes. Typeset in Common Ground Markup Language using CGCreator multichannel typesetting system http://www.CommonGroundSoftware.com. Performativity of Japanese Laughter Mio Bryce, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia Hanae Katayama, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia Abstract: Laughter is a complicated and highly sensitive human activity, implying ambivalent elements, such as spontaneity and performativity, innocence and tactics. It can elicit simply cheerful ambience but also facilitate powerful victimisation by provoking embarrassment of the target. Humoristic discourses are often heavily culture-specific in terms of the text and the situation wherein they are expressed. This is particularly true with Japanese humour, due to the insular and circumstantial nature of the language (e.g., Toyama, 1976) and the way communicative protocols are executed. This paper will examine manzai (Japanese stand-up comedy) and explore Japanese laughter, paying a particular attention to their performativity. Our discussions include the essential characteristics of laughter and humour and their social-cultural and psychological background (Benedict, 1946; Hibbett, 1998-2005; Kawai, 2005, Kitayama, 1993; Kotthoff, 1996; Norrick, 1993, 2001, 2004; Oda, 1986; Raskin, 1985; Sakuta, 1967; Schmitz, 2002; Umehara, 1972). Our hypothesis is that Japanese comical discourses are highly performative and staged, either physically or imaginably, installing the readers/audiences in a voyeuristic perspective, often as an accomplice of one of the participants of the humoristic performance. Keywords: Laughter, Humor, Performativity, Manzai, Manga, Anime, Japanese Language and Culture Introduction act of laughing can cancel or at times destroy the ‘reality’ of other’s world and the meaningfulness of AUGHTER IS A highly sensitive human their presence and identity (Kimura, pp.71-2). activity that involves such ambivalent and While some of the nature of laughter as described Lcontradictory elements as innocence and above is virtually universal, understanding why and purposefulness, spontaneity and performativ- how laughter emerges in the course of communica- ity, and social camaraderie and hostile aggression. tion involves the investigation of culture or “group At times, it simply elicits cheerful ambience but at habitus” (Bourdieu, 1990) shared among the commu- other times it facilitates powerful victimisation. nicative participants. Shared common ground is a Victimising others is the classic type of laughter, prerequisite for the communication of humor. In this originally discussed by Plato and Aristotle and later, sense, laughter is highly culture-specific. The by Hobbs, Freud, and Keith-Spiegel. It is a universal meaning of laughter and the ways of expressions human urge to laugh at others’ mistakes, misfortunes varies widely, derived from their social-cultural and or inferiority, because doing so imparts to us a sense psychological background (Benedict, 1946; Hibbett, of superiority and triumph. 1998-2005; Kawai, 2005, Kitayama, 1993; Kotthoff, The laughter of superiority functions as society’s 1996; Norrick, 1993, 2001, 2004; Oda, 1986; Raskin, safety valve or sublimination of aggression (Klapp, 1985; Sakuta, 1967; Umehara, 1972). This is partic- 1962; Bakhtin, 1984). Throughout the world and ularly true with Japanese laughter, where meticulous across time comic fools serve as the butt of laughter, care for situational appropriateness is seriously re- representing conduct to be ridiculed and rejected. As quired. the “negative exemplars” of the society, the comic This study explores laughter particularly in fools are symbolically “punished” (Mintz, 1985, p. comedic discourse in Japan: manzai (stand-up com- 75), and it is well known that that public laughter edy). It will point to the group habitus in Japanese was often employed as a punishment in various soci- laughter, i.e., a culturally preferred scheme of com- eties, including, for example, during the Edo period municating humor in the Japanese comedic genres. in Japan. We will argue that laughter in these Japanese Laughter is a common and essential human activ- comedic discourses is highly performative and ity that is seen in every society and has a deeper staged, either physically or imaginatively, installing significance as a social and physiological response in the audiences a voyeuristic perspective. Further, or phenomenon. From its emergence to its mechan- we will note that the voyeuristic perspective is often ism and function, it is closely connected to Others achieved by making the audience as an accomplice (Kimura, 1983, p.66). It is frequently triggered by of one of the participants of the humoristic perform- something unexpectedly out of alignment. The simple ance. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES, VOLUME 6, NUMBER 9, 2009 http://www.Humanities-Journal.com, ISSN 1447-9508 © Common Ground, Mio Bryce, Hanae Katayama, All Rights Reserved, Permissions: [email protected] 126 THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES, VOLUME 6 Japanese Situational Appropriateness society. For example, festivals originally signify the and Required Performativity special topos of ‘hare’, or Bakhtin’s notion of ‘car- nival’, wherein social orders are reversed and many Japanese laughter is closely related to cultural spe- rules are overturned temporally to vent off the negat- cificity of Japanese society. When the cultural spe- ive pressure, such as frustrations and complaints, in cificity is ignored and generalized, even phatic smiles order to maintain social stability. As is commonly can ironically distance the participants of the commu- seen in many parts of the world, such topos is also nication. For example, it is often said that ‘vague seen in everyday life and society as a stabilizer of Japanese smile’ gives an impression of uncertainty, the society. The Japanese licensed sexual industries, lack of confidence, secretiveness or even deceitful- such as Yoshiwara in the Edo period, are one of ex- ness. This is however derived from the deep-seated planatory venues which hold strong fictionality, and insular nature of Japanese language, ‘indoor lan- thus perfomativity. guage’ (shitsunai-go) to use Toyama’s term, which Similarly, the temporal freedom is often created postulates tacit consent of each other’s positioning by occasions with alcohol, such as being in e nkai in the conversations (e.g., status, sex and age) in or- (Japanese style banquet) where senior members of der to meticulously determine the level of honorifics the groups such as company executives perform their they use. Japanese immediate utterances (e.g., con- role as fools and/or demonstrate their kakushigei (lit. versation) and associated facial expressions are not hidden art; parlour tricks) to please their junior ‘neutral’ and ‘consistent’ to the person, but always members. All indicate the crucial importance of the circumstantially specific, e.g., a sequence of conver- clearly defined topos. Laughter evoked by comical sation in a certain time in a certain room with specific stage performances by professionals such as yose, participants (e.g., a man with his supervisor). Without rakugo and manzai, and visual and/or literary works such situational specificity, it is difficult for Japanese including manga and anime are all considered in the to select their expressions. The habitual issue is de- same socio-cultural context. The clearly marked rived from the strong homogeneity of Japanese soci- framework, such as enkai or manzai, is essential to ety, in which the greater the shared knowledge, un- ensure the safe space for the participants/audience derstanding and perspective, the less explicit explan- to fully enjoy laugher. Such mechanisms frequently ation is required. This means that one’s explicitness provide voyeuristic pleasure to the participants of can be interpreted as a lack of respect to the other the laugher. Reflecting such circumstances, a consid- party’s knowledge and intelligence. erable portion of Japanese comedic discourses con- Such a conformist society demands that people tain voyeurism and self-mockery, performed within perform multiple roles according to each situation, commonly recognized frames. rather than maintaining their personal integrity and A similar mechanism is utilized in manga (Japan- preferences. The importance of such situational ap- ese cartoons) and anime (animated manga) to evoke propriateness,
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