@article{ART001657171},
author={Yon-hee Chun},
title={Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2012},
volume={25},
number={1},
pages={55-85},
doi={}
TY - JOUR
AU - Yon-hee Chun
TI - Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2012
VL - 25
IS - 1
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 55
EP - 85
SN - 1226-3397
AB - Naomi Iizuka, having grown up in a multi cultural background projects her identity as a Asian American into the play 36Views, which was inspired by Japanese wood block artist Hokusai’s 36 Views of Mt. Fuji. In 36Views Iizuka explores the authenticity of art and asks “What is truth?” or “What is real?”. Iizuka questions the contingency and impingement of quotidian on art by deconstructing the male dominated theater. To foreground Asian women’s texts which have been located in marginal area, 36Views reiterate the theatrical technique of ‘presence’ and ‘absence’ on the stage by using theatrical devices from Noh theater in its movement and other audio and video effects, traditionally found in Kabuki.
The two protagonists, Claire Tsong and Setsuko Hearn, deconstruct the stingy business world of Darius Wheeler, an antique dealer, who has a lot of clout and influence in the world of Asian antiques. Tsong, constructs diverse identities as a contemporary artist, restorer, and business woman with a professional awareness of art market while Hearn becomes the woman writer Sei of Heian era in 11th century of Japan, representing her role in the modern pillow book of the age.
Iizuka who has been classified as one of the Asian American playwrights who distinguishes herself from the Asian American playwrights who portray diasporic Asians as safe stereotypes. Instead Iizuka suggests a new direction for Asian American play by combining East and West and ancient with contemporary. She also deconstructs Platonic dichotomy and challenges the distinction between real and false in the quest of authenticity and this extends into a discussion of phenomenological boundaries of time and space.
36 scenes of the play, which make up the 36 Views of the title, signify the diverse points of view found on the wood block prints of Hokusai. 36 Views not only succeeds in bringing the text to the foreground and combining it with a quest for authenticity but it also denotes the stylistic and thematic changes in one of the theatrical paradigm which is the Asian American theater in the future.
KW - Asian American theater;authenticity;Deleuze;Japanese theater;Naom Iizuka;Orson Wells;simulacre;36Views
DO -
ER -
Yon-hee Chun. (2012). Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views. Journal of Modern English Drama, 25(1), 55-85.
Yon-hee Chun. 2012, "Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.25, no.1 pp.55-85. Available from: doi:
Yon-hee Chun "Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views" Journal of Modern English Drama 25.1 pp.55-85 (2012) : 55.
Yon-hee Chun. Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views. 2012; 25(1), 55-85. Available from: doi:
Yon-hee Chun. "Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views" Journal of Modern English Drama 25, no.1 (2012) : 55-85.doi:
Yon-hee Chun. Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views. Journal of Modern English Drama, 25(1), 55-85. doi:
Yon-hee Chun. Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2012; 25(1) 55-85. doi:
Yon-hee Chun. Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views. 2012; 25(1), 55-85. Available from: doi:
Yon-hee Chun. "Authenticity of Art in Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views" Journal of Modern English Drama 25, no.1 (2012) : 55-85.doi:
