My uncle Nakayama: fundamentals for a Japanese-Amazonian dramaturgy

• Grant number: 23/05931-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Okamoto
• Grantee: Eduardo Okamoto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Artes (IA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cassiano Sydow Quilici ; Suzi Frankl Sperber

Abstract

The project aims to establish fundamentals (ethical, thematic and formal) for the creation of a Japanese-Amazonian dramaturgy. In the relations between Asian and indigenous knowledge, a theatrical text is projected centered on the category of "place" - different, therefore, from part of the Euro-Western tradition of drama in the theater, sustained in the concatenation of events, fable, conflict, character, etc. For this, the research approaches four different materials: a) a historical fact, namely: the presence of the Japanese Shigeru Nakayama (1950-), today, the only resident of the city of Airão Velho, in Amazonas; b) the short story "Meu tio o Iauaretê", by João Guimarães Rosa; c) the play "Tsurigitsune", from the kyogen tradition of Japanese theater; d) "A Queda do Céu", by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. The following procedures are foreseen: bibliographical study; public readings of the texts mentioned above; writing exercises; field research in the Amazon Rainforest and in Japan. As results, the following are projected: public readings; an unpublished dramaturgical text; publication of this work in a tetralingual edition; at least one article that summarizes the process. The project is based at the Laboratory of Dramaturgy and Performative Writing of the Department of Performing Arts at UNICAMP. (AU)