This paper has two objectives. One is to summarize the lecture titled “Unraveling Japanese Orality through the Benshi” held on November 14 (Sunday), 2021 at seminar & culture center Rinko located in Nagahama City, Shiga. Second is to bring a new perspective to Benshi studies through a case study of the Benshi performance titled “Screening silent film ‘I Was Born, But...’ with Benshi and piano live performance” held prior to the lecture. Benshi is an occupation particular to Japan that used to explain the contents of silent films and represent the character’s words in the Silent Era, and it was inevitably born based on Japanese orality that is an essence of Japanese traditional culture and it is strongly related to Japanese contemporary culture as well. However, a case study of the Benshi performance of “I Was Born, But...” directed by Yasujiro Ozu shows peculiarity of Japanese orality and demonstrates that the question of improvisation is still open in Benshi studies.
活動弁士から紐解く日本の口頭性 −小津安二郎『生れてはみたけれど』の活動弁士公演を事例に−
Bvol.24_p(71)-(80)
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