Lecture: Voluntary Blindness: A Typology of the Japanese Melodrama
March 27, 2003
Lecture: Voluntary Blindness: A Typology of the Japanese Melodrama
Inuhiko Yomota (Professor of Film Studies and Comparative Literature, Meiji Gakuin University; Visiting Fellow of the Donald Keene Center)
403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th St. and Amsterdam Ave.)
6:30 PM (Reception to follow)
| What is the significance of becoming blind by one’s own will? A comparison of some cases from Indian epics and contemporary Japanese films shows us an alternative way of thinking about blindness in the context of melodramatic imagination. From his perspective as a film historian, Mr. Yomota will discuss the three cases of Mahabharata, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, and Wakao Ayako.
Mr. Yomota is currently a professor of film studies and comparative literature at Meiji Gakuin University, in addition to being a distinguished film and arts critic. He has authored various publications on Japanese and Asian cinema, films in general, literature, and Asian studies, among other subjects. His recent publications include Radical Wills in Contemporary Japanese Cinema (1999), Japanese Cinema in an Asian Context (2000), Li Xianglan and East Asia (2001), and Korea My Love (2002). His publications have received numerous awards, including the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, Saito Ryoku-u Literature Award, Itoh Sei Literature Award, Kodansha Essay Award, and the Japan Essayist Award. |
Mr. Yomota is a Visiting Fellow of the Donald Keene Center, under a program supported by the United States-Japan Foundation.
YOMOTA Inuhiko (Film Critic and Scholar)
Mr. Yomota is currently Professor of Film Studies and Comparative Literature at Meiji Gakuin University, in addition to being a distinguished film and arts critic. He earned his M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Tokyo in 1979 and completed his Ph.D. course in 1982. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University (1987-88) and Bologna University (1994-95), as well as a Visiting Professor at Konguk University (1979) and Chung’an University (2000), both in Seoul. He has authored various publications on Japanese and Asian cinema, films in general, literature, and Asian studies, among other subjects. His recent publications include Radical Wills in Contemporary Japanese Cinema (1999), Japanese Cinema in an Asian Context (2000), Li Xianglan and East Asia (2001), and Korea My Love (2002). He has received numerous awards for his publications, including the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities, the Inaugural Saito Ryoku Literature Award, Itoh Sei Literature Award, Kodansha Essay Award, and Japan Essayist Award.
During his stay at Columbia in April 2003, Professor Yomota gave a talk on the theme of voluntary blindness in Asian film with a particular emphasis on Japanese melodramas. He then gave a presentation on “Chushingura as a Japanese Film Genre” at a symposium that explored various aspects of the Chushingura legend as represented in theater, history, and film. Professor Yomota also interacted with fellow scholars at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies.
