The Joy of Noh

Embodied Learning and Discipline in Urban Japan

Katrina L. Moore

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781438450612
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Centered on questions of identity formation, selfhood, and the body, this ethnography examines the experiences of later life learners in Japan. The women profiled are amateur practitioners of Noh theater, learning the dance and chant essential to this classic art form. Using a combination of observational, interview, and experiential data, Katrina L. Moore discusses the relevance of these practices to the women's everyday lives. Later life learning activities have been heavily promoted in Japan as a means for an aging population to remain healthy. However, many Noh practitioners experience their practice as a means of self-actualization beyond the goal of healthy aging. Looking at daily experiences of training for and staging theatrical performances, Moore analyzes the way the body becomes the medium through which amateurs explore new states of self. The work provides a view of contemporary Noh that highlights the rarely acknowledged role of amateur performers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Note to Reader
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Amateur Noh Practitioners
• Chapter 2. The Biography of a Noh Teacher
• Chapter 3. Rituals of Learning
• Chapter 4. Peeling Away of Identity
• Chapter 5. Acceptance
• Conclusion
• Glossary of Noh Terms
• Works Cited
• Index
• Back Cover