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Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words") - Comic Monologues


Rakugo traces its origins to Buddhist sermons. “The earliest rakugokas [storytellers; rakugoka (落語家)] parodied the stories that were used in preaching.” The tradition began with street people who entertained passers-by. Later they performed for the wealthy and then in vaudeville-type urban theatres (called yose).
Becoming a professional storyteller is a lengthy process. Rakugokas train in two centres in Japan. Although some of the classic rakugo tales have been written down from performance, the art of rakugo storytelling is handed down by oral practice. “Rakugokas learn by listening to their masters perform, and they learn conventions specific to this comic art form, they learn how to create characters, use various linguistic devices, and extract the essence of a story.”
Rakugokas also become masters of two minimalist props: a fan and a kerchief.

Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words") is a Japanese comical monologue. The oldest appearance of the kanji which can be read as ‘rakugo’ dates back to 1787 (but then they were normally read as otoshibanashi - fallen discourses).
The presence of an audience is essential to rakugo. The speaker is in the middle of the audience, and his purpose is to stimulate the general hilarity with sharp speaking and body gestures. The monologue always ends with a cunning narrative stunt known as ochi (落ち) (fall) or sage (lowering), consisting in a sudden interruption of the wordplay flow.
From the earlier artistic speech have followed other styles, including the shibaibanashi (theatre discourses), the ongyokubanashi (musical discourses), the kaidanbanashi (Kaidan, ghost discourses), the ninjôbanashi (sentimental discourses) and many others.
Have a look at the Wikipedia entry for the Folk Tale Jugemu.
For pictures of Rakugoka look at http://www.english-rakugo.com/english_version/english_performers.html
 

         posted by Message from Japan on Wednesday, September 12, 2007    0 comments