Hirata, Eiichiro
Faculty of Letters German Literature Professor
Graduate School of Letters German Literature Professor
Research Overview
The focus of my research is analyzing the European, German, and Japanese theatre with the methodology of Theatre Studies, which has been developed with its own discipline in the last two decades in Europe/Germany. My research in recent years has been reviewing the theatrical aspects of presence and absence, the tragedy theory, the relationship between theatre and democracy, as well as the transcultural elements between theatre and politics. The elements of theatre, such as gesture, body, playfulness, and direction, are related to the “theatricality” in our life, especially in a media society in which self-direction, face-to-face communication (as the binary opposition of media), eventuality, and the spectatorship of events take on a crucial role. This kind of theatricality, which has been discussed not only in theatre studies but also in philosophy, political science, and sociology, is also a key topic of my long-term research.
Specialty
Theatre Studies/Research on German Theatre