Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the social and cultural significance of

butoh dance beyond its original context of postwar Japan. In order to do so,

the thesis explores ideas, practices and experiences of butoh dancing among

contemporary – Japanese as well as non-Japanese – practitioners: primarily

the Oxford-based butoh dance company Café Reason, which constituted the

main case study for the research.

The ethnographic particularities of butoh, as defined by its practitioners,

provided the core of the investigation. That is, a common notion among

teachers and students of this dance form is that butoh has no conclusive form

or style. They also say that butoh is defined by its very defying of definitions.

Thus, the central question that runs through the thesis is: ‘How does butoh, a

dance that resists codification and classification, continue to be practised and

reinvented?’

The central hypothesis of the thesis is that the core of butoh lies in its

perceptual, rather than its formal, constitution and articulation. In order to test

this hypothesis I engaged an unorthodox methodology that, by explicitly

mobilizing sensory engagement in the processes of training and performing

butoh, brought my own experience to the centre-stage of the analysis. In turn,

the methodological focus on the senses unveiled the sophisticated aesthetic

dimensions of butoh dancing, especially its reliance on tactile-kinesthetic

perception.

Based on these methodological premises, a review of butoh training and

performances allowed an approach to the semantic and perceptual

‘indeterminacy’ of the butoh body. The latter is typically associated with

unintelligible levels of experience: in the form of either intense, and often ‘antisocial,’

emotional states, or augmented, near-religious, states of awareness.

These findings led me to identify ‘emotion’ and ‘otherness’ as the core

experiential dimensions of butoh dancing, which, in turn, explains its continuity

and significance as an art form.

Ultimately, butoh’s synthesis of ‘art’ and ‘spirituality,’ or of ‘dance’ and ‘therapy,’

allows the analysis to situate this cultural phenomenon in a continuum

between ritual and aesthetic performance, with different butoh dancers placing

themselves at different positions within this spectrum.

摘要

本论文的目的是研究布袋戏的社会和文化意义。

的社会和文化意义，并超越其在战后日本的原始背景。为了做到这一点。

为了做到这一点，本论文探讨了当代日本和非日本从业者对布袋舞的想法、实践和经验。

当代--日本人和非日本人--的从业者中，探讨布袋舞的想法、实践和经验：主要是

牛津大学的布袋舞团Café Reason构成了研究的主要案例。

构成了研究的主要个案研究。

由其从业者定义的布袋戏的人种学特性。

提供了调查的核心。也就是说，在这种舞蹈形式的师生中，一个共同的概念是

即，这种舞蹈形式的教师和学生的一个共同概念是，布袋戏没有结论性的形式或风格。

或风格。他们还说，布袋戏的定义是它对定义的蔑视。

因此，贯穿本论文的中心问题是："布袋戏，一个拒绝被编纂和被定义的舞蹈，如何

舞蹈拒绝被编纂和分类，如何继续被练习和重塑？

重新发明的？

本论文的中心假设是，布袋戏的核心在于其

论文的核心假设是，布袋戏的核心在于其感知性，而不是其形式上的构成和衔接性。为了测试

为了验证这一假设，我采用了一种非正统的方法，通过明确的

在训练和表演的过程中调动感官参与

通过明确调动训练和表演过程中的感官参与，我把自己的经验带到了分析的中心舞台。反过来。

反过来，对感官的方法论关注揭示了布袋戏复杂的美学维度，特别是它对人的影响。

的复杂审美层面，特别是它对触觉--运动感的依赖。

感知。

在这些方法论的前提下，对布袋戏训练和表演的回顾使我们能够对布袋戏的语义进行分析。

舞蹈的语义和知觉的方法。

的 "不确定性"。后者通常与

无法理解的经验水平：要么是强烈的、通常是 "反社会的 "形式的

情绪状态，或增强的、近乎宗教的意识状态。

这些发现促使我将 "情感 "和 "异己 "确定为日本武术的核心体验维度。

这反过来又解释了它作为一种艺术形式的延续性和重要性。

这也解释了它作为一种艺术形式的连续性和重要性。

最终，布袋戏对 "艺术 "和 "精神"，或 "舞蹈 "和 "治疗 "的综合

分析允许将这种文化现象置于一个介于仪式和审美表演之间的连续体中。

仪式和审美表演之间的连续体，不同的布袋戏舞者将自己置于这个光谱的不同位置。

不同的布袋戏舞者在这个光谱中处于不同的位置。

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