[KineJapan] Japanese comedies...

Sat May 13 15:37:26 EDT 2017

I agree with the suggestions that critics/scholars have to present a "serious" face to the world, the better to justify what may seem like a frivolous activity to outsiders--film scholars especially, given, as you point out, the historical situation of cinema as a new and popular, and therefore inferior, art... To quote someone famous beyond his merits, "Sad!"

Many thanks for your kind recommendations--I'll have a look. 

Best,

Tim

--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 5/11/17, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Japanese comedies...
 To: "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu>
 Received: Thursday, May 11, 2017, 8:03 PM

 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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