Malgré le fait que beaucoup de travail ait été réalisé autour du phénomène « Shakespeare japonais », cette dissertation se positionne autrement dans cette conversation en examinant les performances et adaptations de Shakespeare au Japon par le théâtre féminin Takarazuka Revue. Ceci est accompli au moyen d’une analyse critique des traditions du théâtre Kabuki, de l’histoire prémoderne et postmoderne du Japon et de la culture populaire japonaise. Cette dissertation se concentre sur les œuvres de Shakespeare et sur la manière dont celles-ci permettent au Japon d’examiner ses propres réalités sociale, culturelle, historique et politique. Pour ce faire, j’examine donc les pratiques de théâtres prémodernes de l’Angleterre et leur emploi du « boy actor » pour jouer les rôles féminins et je compare ce phénomène à celui du théâtre Kabuki et à son utilisation d’acteurs « onnagata » pour jouer des rôles semblables. Par la suite, j’aborde le fait que le théâtre de Takarazuka approprie ses traditions et subvertit les normes en n’ayant que des actrices pour jouer les rôles masculins et féminins dans ses performances. Le Takarazuka est souvent vu comme étant un défenseur d’idées patriarchales au Japon à cause de ses politiques internes. Cependant, selon moi, ce théâtre offre également une forme d’émancipation pour les femmes et d’autant plus lorsqu’il est combiné avec les œuvres de Shakespeare. Shakespeare est donc analysé dans ce contexte par lequel le Japon peut examiner son passé ainsi que ses idées contemporaines sur le genre, la sexualité, et la féminité. J’étudie donc cinq performances de Shakespeare qui suivent le développement de la cause féminine à travers les époques, en commençant par l’époque Edo jusqu’à l’ère postmoderne. Le théâtre au Japon a évolué de son état premier initialement réservé à la noblesse pour éventuellement être accessible au peuple commun par l’intermédiaire de la religion. En alliant ces traditions et cette histoire culturelle avec Shakespeare, ainsi que son influence positive sur le théâtre japonais, je démontre que Shakespeare et le Japon sont reliés historiquement et dans les arts à travers les performances et adaptations de Takarazuka. / While much work has been done on the topic of Japanese Shakespeare, particularly as it relates to the playwright’s influence over traditional theatre arts since the Meiji era, this dissertation breaks new ground by looking at the all-female Takarazuka Revue’s adaptations and performances of Shakespeare with a close examination of Kabuki traditions, Japanese early modern history, and popular culture. This dissertation highlights how Shakespeare’s works act as a critical lens through which Japan examines its own social, cultural, historical, and political realities. To achieve this, I examine England’s early modern practice of employing boy actors to play the roles of female characters and highlight the similarities with Japan’s Kabuki and its use of onnagata actors to enact the same role on stage. From this point, I draw links to Takarazuka’s appropriation of these traditions and its subversion of norms through the employment of an all-female cast in all of its performances. While Takarazuka has often been regarded as a reinforcer of patriarchal values due to its strict inner politics, I argue that it also offers a form of emancipation for women in theatre when combined with Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare is analysed in this context to show how his works act as vehicles through which Japan’s historical past can be examined and its contemporary ideas of gender, sexuality, and womanhood can be considered. I look at five distinct performances of Shakespeare to explore the development of female agency in Japan, spanning the centuries from the Edo era to a postwar society in which Shakespeare is re-Westernized for a modern world. Theatre in Japan has always held a special place in how it evolved from being religion-driven, to aristocratic, and then accessible to the masses. By combining this rich tradition with Shakespeare and examining his positive influence over the revival of these arts, Shakespeare and Japan become intrinsically linked throughout history and in the arts as shown through Takarazuka’s adaptations and performances.

In her doctoral thesis the author would like to present the play Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry trees (Yoshitsune senbonzakura) as a unique piece of Japanese drama which has a great complexity and an outstanding place within the corpus of Japanese literature. Even if the play can be compared to Chushingura mono in its importance, Yoshitsune senbonzakura has not been widely translated to western languages. There are two exceptions, however: the English translation (Jones, Jr. 1993) and the German translation (Klopfenstein 1982). While comparing the two translations and using the most full original texts available (as preserved in Takeda Izumo and Namiki Sosuke Joruri Collection and Yuda Yoshio's Bunraku Joruri Collection), the author's goal is to present the play to Czech readers and its interpretation to Czech scholars. As for the flow and structure of the interpretation of Yoshitsune senbonzakura the author begins with the historical background of the legend of Minamoto Yoshitsune, capturing the life of Yoshitsune from the time of Heiji rebellion (1159) when he was born to his death in 1189. Next the author concentrates on the legend itself as it evolved within the course of Japanese literature. With a shift from the court literature of Heian period towards the battlefield stories and...

In her doctoral thesis the author would like to present the play Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry trees (Yoshitsune senbonzakura) as a unique piece of Japanese drama which has a great complexity and an outstanding place within the corpus of Japanese literature. Even if the play can be compared to Chushingura mono in its importance, Yoshitsune senbonzakura has not been widely translated to western languages. There are two exceptions, however: the English translation (Jones, Jr. 1993) and the German translation (Klopfenstein 1982). While comparing the two translations and using the most full original texts available (as preserved in Takeda Izumo and Namiki Sosuke Joruri Collection and Yuda Yoshio's Bunraku Joruri Collection), the author's goal is to present the play to Czech readers and its interpretation to Czech scholars. As for the flow and structure of the interpretation of Yoshitsune senbonzakura the author begins with an analysis of the historical background of the legend of Minamoto Yoshitsune, capturing the life of Yoshitsune from the time of Heiji rebellion (1159) when he was born to his death in 1189. Next the author concentrates on the legend itself as it evolved within the course of Japanese literature. With a shift from the court literature of Heian period towards the battlefield...

Many researchers (e.g., Nation, 2001, 2015; Schmitt, 2000) have recognized the importance of vocabulary learning in second language (L2) or additional language (AL) acquisition. The strong effects of lexical and background knowledge on L2reading comprehension have similarly been found in various studies (e.g., Hu & Nation, 2000; Rokni & Hajilari, 2013). In the case of Japanese language, the opportunities for acquiring the lexical and background knowledge associated with Japanese history and culture, especially traditional culture, are scant, because only a small number of Japanese pedagogical materials deal minimally with these topics. Meanwhile, many learners are motivated to study Japanese because of their interest in Japanese history and culture, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation in 2012. This project aimed to increase the opportunities for learning Japanese history and traditional culture through the development of new pedagogical materials based on kabuki, and then the empirical evaluation of the developed pedagogical materials. Nine Chinese-as-a-first-language Japanese learners at the upper-intermediate level participated in the nine-week online course, including the pre- and post-course tests in the first and last weeks. Employing a multi-method research approach, the study examined the changes in learners’ lexical and background knowledge related to Japanese history and culture, their reading comprehension, and their interest in kabuki. Four kinds of multiple-choice tests were administered to collect the quantitative data. In addition, the qualitative data were gathered through the pre- and post-course questionnaires and post-course individual interviews. Overall, the findings indicated that almost all participants increased their background knowledge of kabuki, as well as their vocabulary related to kabuki and general theatrical performances. The results in other areas, such as historical vocabulary, vocabulary depth, reading comprehension, and historical background knowledge were mixed. Further, concerning the depth of vocabulary knowledge, it was found that the learning of vocabulary depth was more difficult than learning of vocabulary breadth. Likewise, the knowledge of use, such as collocations and register constraints, was found to be more difficult to learn than other aspects of vocabulary depth. The participants’ reports in the post-course questionnaire and individual interviews showed that most participants seemed to have increased their interest in kabuki. Overall, the first-of-their-kind developed pedagogical materials contributed to the development of lexical and background knowledge, specifically knowledge associated with Japanese traditional culture and history. This study may provide a model for an evidence-based approach to the development of pedagogical materials that practitioners can adopt or adapt. / Graduate