Hijikata: Revolt of the Body [Paperback]

Stephen Barber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1840681446 | ISBN-13: 978-1840681444

The very first biography and cultural study of Japanese dancer Tatsumi Hijikata, who invented the revolutionary performance art ‘Ankoku Butoh’ – now celebrated worldwide as one of the most innovative and haunting contemporary art forms. A university level text, illustrated throughout, of vital interest to all readers engaged with performance art and dance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A brilliant and illuminating study of Hijikata and the Japanese avant-garde." - Donald Richie" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Creation (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840681446
• ISBN-13: 978-1840681444
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,001,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars satisfying introductory text with poor presentation, September 15, 2011

By 

Eliane Lundberg-Tanaka (Elgaland/Vargaland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hijikata: Revolt of the Body (Solar Books - Solar East) (Paperback)

Barber's essay on Tatsumi Hijikata and his "ankoku butoh" does a fine job of situating this singularly intense artist within a larger milieu of social upheaval and literal devastation. Along the way, he unearths some shocking insights about that milieu (like the fact that some cultural outliers in wartime Japan actually *welcomed* the Allied bombing of their cities as an annihilation of the old social order and a chance to create anew) and wisely makes no attempts to retrospectively portray Hijikata as being more renowned at the time than he really was. Those who know little about the cultural origins of Butoh's more extreme exponents will be caught right up to speed here; though the text can be plowed through in a day's reading it manages to a set up a satisfyingly complete set of links between Hijikata and a greater 20th century avant-garde exploring madness and criminality (e.g. Genet, Artaud.)

However, as is their wont, the people at Creation Books manage to cheapen the text with pointless proclamations of their stereotypical "extreme" aesthetic. I say "Creation" because Solar Books is merely another imprint run by the same parties responsible for the more renowned Creation flagship (and this book was previously published as a Creation title.) The similarity in "quality" between the two imprints is easily noticeable: cheap paper, lazy placement of photographs and hastily completed design work whose main distinguishing feature is the childish, unnecessary placement of would-be "shocking" icons. What, exactly, do menacingly hooked swastikas have to do with Hijikata's work, and why are they at the heading of each chapter in this book?

All in all, Barber has done his job here, it's a shame that he had to sell this to a publisher who has no idea how to aesthetically frame the work. Here is hoping that future efforts of this type will find more reputable outlets for printing and distribution.