[KineJapan] Japanese comedies...

[Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan]

Dear Tim,

I devoted one chapter of my thesis [downloadable here
www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/392627] to try to explain why comedy films, and
especially Japanese comedies, are generally neglected by critics and
scholars. Also, based on this chapter I wrote another one for a book [2016.
“De Kitano a Matsumoto («or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
Japanese Film Comedy»).” in *El Japón Contemporáneo: Una Aproximación Desde
Los Estudios Culturales*, edited by Artur Lozano-Méndez, 55–78. Barcelona:
Bellaterra]. Both are in Spanish, I hope I can also publish something about
this in English.

In short, my principal conclusion is that criticism acts as an institution
aimed to self-affirmation. Cinema, as a relatively new thing and mainly
regarded as a consumption good for mass audience, lacks of the prestige
that arts or literature hold. Therefore, film critics and scholars tend to
focus on "serious" aspects in order to justify and legitimize its field of
expertise. In the Japanese case, the stereotipe of the imposibility to
grasp Japanese humour by the non Japanese makes things worse.

Then, after my self-promotion, I reccomend you to check:
- Yoshida, J. (2006), Origins of Japanese Film Comedy and Questions of
Colonial Modernity, Eugene, University of Oregon.
- Sontag, S. (1987), «In Conclusion…», East-West Film Journal, 2 (1),
Honolulu, East-West Center, pp. 99-106.
- Costa, J., ed. (2010), Una risa nueva: posthumor, parodias y otras
mutaciones de la comedia, Molina de Segura, Nausícaä. (This is also in
Spanish. Its introduction is really worthy).

Best regards,
Jose Montaño


On 12 May 2017 at 06:38, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <
kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

> At the risk of sounding thoroughly out-of-touch (entirely possible, as I
> most certainly am!)--why oh why are there so few scholarly works on
> Japanese comedies? And not only Japanese comedies; it seems as though
> comedy cinema and humour in general are out-of-bounds for academic
> research: too light, too frivolous, too transient...
>
> I've come across only one journal dedicated to comedy--"Warai gaku
> kenkyu." As worthwhile as it is, it can't be the "only" venue for scholars
> interested in comedy?
>
> Japanese directors have produced some truly great comedies. From droll and
> dry to madcap and silly, frenetic to deadpan... Is the academic mood really
> that comedy is too frivolous to study? Or maybe we don't want to kill the
> humour through analytical interpretation--we keep our favourite comedies to
> ourselves...
>
> Just some late-spring musings...
>
> Best,
>
>
> Tim Iles
> University of Victoria
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-- 
Jose Montaño
ホセ・モンターニョ
*Cine y cultura japonesa:*
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