Noh Drama | Masaru Sekine (essay date 1985)
Masaru Sekine (essay date 1985)
SOURCE: Sekine, Masaru. “The History of Noh.” In Ze-ami and His Theories of Noh Drama, pp. 19-44. Gerrards Cross, England: Colin Smythe, 1985.
[In the following essay, Sekine traces the development of Noh drama, paying special attention to Zeami's interpretations of some of the aspects of the art form.]
The Noh theatre, now six hundred years old, can be studied today not only in its own right but as an introduction to and explanation of Japanese culture in a wider sense. The Noh, with all its emphasis on tradition, repetition, and the temporary, translucent beauty of hana, the supreme aesthetic achievement of this form of drama, can tell us a great deal about all the Japanese art forms which rely on similar standards.
Ze-Ami's writings may seem confusing, even at times contradictory, particularly when he moves in the metaphysical or subconscious world of Zen, which is...
[The entire page is 10490 words long]
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