In a lovely bit of classism, the program asserts that "The reason why Bunraku was so popular in Osaka [the biggest commercial city in Japan in the 16th c.] is its vivid and dynamic life of the merchants required interesting and melodramatic entertainment rather than a more sophisticated type."
I've seen statements like that in Japanese scholarship on kabuki and manga, too. (English-language stuff by Japanese scholars, which I guess might be more self-conscious.) I mean, this is in things written by people who specialize in kabuki-or-manga. It's disconcerting.
I don't know if ukiyo-e gets the same treatment. I will now be on the lookout for someone saying that Hokusai was popular among the common people because of his simplistic subject matter and nice bright colors.
no subject
In a lovely bit of classism, the program asserts that "The reason why Bunraku was so popular in Osaka [the biggest commercial city in Japan in the 16th c.] is its vivid and dynamic life of the merchants required interesting and melodramatic entertainment rather than a more sophisticated type."
I've seen statements like that in Japanese scholarship on kabuki and manga, too. (English-language stuff by Japanese scholars, which I guess might be more self-conscious.) I mean, this is in things written by people who specialize in kabuki-or-manga. It's disconcerting.
I don't know if ukiyo-e gets the same treatment. I will now be on the lookout for someone saying that Hokusai was popular among the common people because of his simplistic subject matter and nice bright colors.