Kitano/Kijujiro/Buffoon

[Lorenzo Javier Torres Hortelano]

I'm writng an article about the the buffoon figure or concept (jester,
clown) created in Kitano's "Kikujiro no natsu". I've have arrived to some
questions I can't resolve by myself and would like to share it with all of
you:

1) Could be found a cultural tradition of the buffoon in Japan similar to
that of European Courts in the Middle Age?
2) Could Kitano be considered as a buffon in the contemporary Japane popular
culture?
3) Do you know any term in Kabuki related or similar to the buffoon
character?
4) Would you agree that Kitano is a comedy actor and that in "Kikujiro" he
acts, besides, as a buffoon?
5) Do you konw about any terms in contemporary popular culture in Japan to
tell the difference between comedy actor and buffoon?

Any bibliograhic reference about the subject will be very welcome.

Thanks in advance!

-- 
Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Madrid, Spain
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/private/kinejapan/attachments/20060809/d9a13192/attachment.html>