가부키(歌舞伎)의 온나가타(女形) 에 관한 고찰 - 에도시대와 근대의 온나가타를 중심으로 -

Abstract

Through the lens of the history of world drama, onnagatas(woman-roles) do not seem to be inherent to kabuki but they have now become a unique element in kabuki. This paper aims to review the occurrences and the aspects of onnagatas by taking note of what has kept alive their existence even in the modern kabuki. As for the study method, this paper looks at Yoshizawa Ayame and Segawa Kikunojo who played active parts in the Edo period and completed the art of onnagatas and then examines preponderantly the artistic discourses among Nakamura Utaemon, Onoe Baiko, and Onoe Kikugoro who played active parts as onnatas after the modern age. Onnagatas in the Edo period lived as women even in their daily lives and were conscious of their being females, but the art of such onnagatas was not applied to onnagatas as an absolute norm after the modern age. While onnagatas, even partially succeeding to the very art, can be said to have enriched and refined their techniques since the modern age, in contrast to those in the Edo period, they lived their daily lives as males but had lost their male appearances, become beautiful, and imitated female voices by abandoning their male voices and accepting their falsettos. To sum up, it can be known that they had switched over to pursuing the pictorial characteristics while imitating the-real-world women, presumably due to the changes in the audiences’ aesthetic value criteria and to the development of theater construction.