There is a tendency amongst scholars to view comedic elements common to Roman Comedy, such as the tricky subordinate or the nagging wife, as part of a developing Western Comedic Tradition. The appearance of these characters in Medieval Japanese Kyōgen, a comedic art-form unconnected with Western Comedy, challenges this viewpoint and suggests that they are part of a wider comedic identity. This thesis compares and contrasts Roman Comedy and Kyōgen through their techniques of fear-alleviation, exploring the manner in which each culture addresses social anxieties. The first chapter explores the comedic master-slave/servant relationship through the medium of the tricky slave/servant. It examines how the motif of the tricky subordinate is used to alleviate contemporary fears of authority figures. Chapter 2 considers the other half of this relationship, focusing on authority’s fear of rebellion and how this is addressed through the loyal and/or stupid slave/servant. Chapter 3 explores the depiction of religious and supernatural figures in the two comedic forms and examines the methods by which these awe-inspiring beings are portrayed humorously and rendered harmless. The fourth chapter reflects on the treatment of illness in Roman Comedy and Kyōgen. It discusses how contemporary social anxieties regarding blind men (Medieval Japan) and the stigma of insanity and epilepsy (Rome) are alleviated through the humorous comedic depiction of blind and insane/epileptic characters. Chapter 5 explores the comedic presentation of professional figures. This chapter contrasts the boastful character of the comedic soldier of Roman Comedy with the braggart priest of Kyōgen. In Chapter 6, the focus is on the misogynistic treatment of wives in both comedic art-forms. This chapter explores contemporary fear of wives and how this fear is alleviated through their negative portrayal in comedy. This thesis finds that there is a strong correlation between Roman Comedy and Kyōgen, both in the types of social anxiety which they seek to alleviate and the methods by which they seek to accomplish this. It also finds that the motif of the tricky subordinate and the nagging wife are not just Western phenomena but that they are also present in the Eastern Comic Tradition. The comparison of Roman Comedy with Kyōgen, an unrelated comedic form, leads to an enhanced understanding of the role which these characters play in alleviating social anxiety. It also enables the consideration of stock characters in Roman comedy from a wider viewpoint, presenting an opportunity for scholars to re-evaluate characters such as the tricky subordinate and the nagging wife as products of a wider, universal comic tradition.

O presente estudo pretende expor e analisar as características do Kyogen, comédia clássica japonesa do século XIV, situando-a como uma referência, a ser considerada, na discussão do fazer teatral nos dias de hoje. Trata-se de um teatro codificado, regido por convenções teatrais consolidadas no período medieval japonês, mas que exibe aspectos de surpreendente universalidade e contemporaneidade, no tocante aos princípios que norteiam a arte do ator. Embora a expressão \"universo kyogen\" possa denotar um domínio fechado ou exclusivo, uma hipótese que surge é a possibilidade de traçar um lugar para o kyogen como uma forma criativa e recriada do \"nosso\" presente ocidental e brasileiro, estendendo-se os seus experimentos no âmbito da pedagogia teatral. / -

Many questions surround the anonymous medieval work known as Saigyo monogatari (translated here as “The Tale of Saigyo”, and for simplicity generally referred to as “the Tale”). When was it first created? By whom, and for what intended audience? By what process did it proliferate into the many variant texts that have come down to us? How many other variants may once have existed? What is the relationship between the existing variants, and which can be considered the earliest? Might this be the “original text”, or is it too a reworking of some now lost original text? ¶ In the last forty years, these questions have been taken up by a number of scholars, but to date there has been no full-length study that takes into account the wide range of variant texts and attempts in any systematic way to analyze them in a search for answers. The present study seeks to fill this gap. I compare 11 texts, consisting of representatives from all the main variant categories and including all the texts which are known to be, or which seem to me to be, early forms. Detailed textual comparison can be found in Appendix 1. ¶ Part I introduces the background to the Tale’s development, and the variant texts. In Part II, I translate the variant known as Bunmeibon. Many scholars have either claimed or simply assumed that Bunmeibon is a close version of the Tale’s original form. I take issue with this belief, and one of the aims of this study is to pursue the question of the relationship of the B text line (of which Bunmeibon is representative) with the A text line, which has generally been regarded as the secondary or “abridged” line, with the purpose of establishing that it is rather the A line that retains traces of the original text and of the impulses that led to the Tale’s original formation. ¶ The detailed comments which follow each section of the Bunmeibon translation are intended both to place it within the context of the other ten variants and draw out their possible relationships, and to examine other issues that the section raises in relation to the Tale as a whole. Most of these issues hinge on the question of how Saigyo is depicted. I trace the volatile shifts that occur between the two poles of Saigyo as poet and Saigyo as religious practitioner, how the Tale does and does not attempt to merge the two, and what forms this double Saigyo image takes as the Tale progresses, both inter- and intra-textually. ¶ This question is fundamentally linked with the above question of relationship between the text lines. The scholars who focus their study on Bunmeibon largely assume that the main focus of the Tale is religious in intent. I hope to show that the Tale’s fundamental form in all variants does not reflect this, that much of the religious material found in Bunmeibon and the other B texts is the result of interpolation and reworking, and that it is the early A texts’ more literary focus that contains the likely key to the original impulses behind the Tale’s formation. ¶ Part III draws together the results of my investigation, and situates the Tale within the wider context of the kyogen kigo debate.

O presente estudo pretende expor e analisar as características do Kyogen, comédia clássica japonesa do século XIV, situando-a como uma referência, a ser considerada, na discussão do fazer teatral nos dias de hoje. Trata-se de um teatro codificado, regido por convenções teatrais consolidadas no período medieval japonês, mas que exibe aspectos de surpreendente universalidade e contemporaneidade, no tocante aos princípios que norteiam a arte do ator. Embora a expressão \"universo kyogen\" possa denotar um domínio fechado ou exclusivo, uma hipótese que surge é a possibilidade de traçar um lugar para o kyogen como uma forma criativa e recriada do \"nosso\" presente ocidental e brasileiro, estendendo-se os seus experimentos no âmbito da pedagogia teatral. / -

This study aims to draw and discuss parallels between the humour of kyōgen that is depicted in the play The Delicious Poison, and theories about humour as a behavioural mechanism.  Using existing theories about humour and Japanese dramatic aesthetics as a foundation, the research commences from the following questions: Based on the text and the stage directions, what possibilities do kyōgen actors in the play The Delicious Poison have to use dramaturgic comic devices to cause a humorous reaction among the audience? What are these devices and why do they work the way they do, theoretically? Based on a collection of qualitative data from both primary and secondary sources, the script of The Delicious Poison was translated and analysed using the theories presented. It was found that the most prominent humour devices used in the play were those of doxa (recognition or prior knowledge), exaggeration, and comprehension-elaboration (element of surprise), along with the escalating structural principle of jo-ha-kyū (introduction, development, climax).  Future research including analysis of kyōgen plays of other genres, is however needed to confirm the correct use of the theories and the findings. / Denna studie syftar till att dra och diskutera paralleller mellan den humor som uppstår i kyōgenpjäsen The Delicious Poison, och teori om humor som en beteendemekanism. Genom att använda existerande teorier om humor och japansk dramaestetik som grund, har studien utgått från följande frågor: Med manus och scenhänvisningar som utgångspunkt, vilka möjligheter har kyōgenskådespelare i pjäsen The Delicious Poison att använda sig av dramatiska komikgrepp för att framkalla en humorreaktion från åskådarna? Vilka är dessa komikgrepp och hur fungerar de teoretiskt sett? Av analysen framkom det att de mest framträdande komikgreppen som används i pjäsen är doxa (igenkänning och föreliggande kunskap), överdrift och uppskattning-elaboreringsmodellen, samt den eskalerande strukturella principen jo-ha-kyū (introduktion, utveckling, klimax). Det skulle emellertid vara nödvändigt med framtida studier inkluderande analys av kyōgenpjäser av andra genrer, för att bekräfta kredibiliteten hos de teorier som använts och de resultat som framkommit. / 拙稿では狂言の『附子』で発現するユーモアと態度的な機構としてのユーモアについて理論との類似点を比較し、論議を行う。存在している理論及び日本の伝統的な演劇美学を使用し、研究は以下の問題から開始する： 台本とト書きをもとにして、狂言の『附子』に登場する役者は演劇的なお笑い工夫でユーモア反応を引き起こす可能性はどこで表れるのか。 この工夫はどこでなされて、なぜ理論的に機構が働くのか。 一次資料と二次資料から集めた定性データをもとにして現れた理論を使用して、「附子」の台本は翻訳され、分析された。分析から明らかになった結果によるとユーモア工夫はドクサ（認める事）、誇張、理解力詳述モデル（意外性）である。その他、序破急という日本の伝統文化の構造的な概念も重要である。今後の研究に関しては、理論や分かった結果を確認するため、他種の狂言を分析する必要がある。