Symposium at the University of Vienna
October 11th  to 12th 2013
(Rakugo-kai with Shunpuutei Ichinosuke on October 12th 2013)
The submission deadline for papers is August 5th 2013.

More than 40 years after the famous rakugo-ka Tatekawa Danshi predicted the death of the art of comical storytelling, yose engei still seems to be as alive and well as ever. In fact, the 21st century has seen a veritable boom of both rakugo and engei in Japanese vaudeville, as well as in film and on TV. Artists often stress the traditions of their performance and audiences often enjoy the nostalgic atmosphere that reminds them of the “good old days”.

But what is the current state of rakugo and other yose arts in the 21st century?

How do these forms of entertainment compete with, or benefit from, mass media such as television, film or the internet? How do artists reflect on their role as “old-fashioned” entertainers and how does it influence their performances? When is tradition real and when does it mainly serve as a strategy for marketing or image branding? These are some of the questions we wish to examine in our symposium.

We therefore invite papers relating to facets of the state of rakugo or other engei, such as manzai, Japanese juggling, paper cutting, mandan, kami shibai etc. in the 21st century.

We are honoured to announce that one of the most prolific rakugo-ka of his generation, Shunpuutei Ichinosuke, will give a performance on October 12th 2013 (Saturday), kindly supported by The Japan Foundation.

For paper proposals, please send a 250-word abstract (in English) and a short CV to bernhard.seidl@univie.ac.atand till.weingaertner@fu-berlin.de by August 5th 2013.