Preface : transnational and time-travelling divas / Laura Hein -- Diva seductions : an introduction to diva nation / Laura Miller and Rebecca Copeland -- Angry divas talking back : Kirino Natsuo and the Goddess Chronicle / Rebecca Copeland -- Ame no Uzume crosses boundaries / Tomoko Aoyama -- Searching for charisma queen Himiko / Laura Miller -- Izumo no Okuni : dancing diva innovator from medieval Japan / Barbara Hartley -- From child star to diva : Misora Hibari as postwar Japan / Christine R. Yano -- Yoko Ono : a transgressive diva / Carolyn S. Stevens -- Transbeauty IKKO : a diva's guide to glamour, virtue, and healing / Jan Bardsley -- Seizing the spotlight, staging the self : Uchida Shungiku / Amanda C. Seaman -- The unmaking of a diva : Kanehara Hitomi's comfortable anonymity / David Holloway -- Ice princess : Asada Mao the demure diva / Masafumi Monden -- Afterword : diva'te nan desu ka? (what is a diva?) -- Rokudenashiko (translated by Kazue Harada).
Summary:
"Diva Nation explores the constructed nature of female iconicity in Japan. From ancient goddesses and queens to modern singers and writers, this edited volume critically reconsiders the female icon, tracing how she has been offered up for emulation, debate or censure. The research in this book culminates from curiosity over the insistent presence of Japanese female figures who have refused to sit quietly on the sidelines of history. The contributors move beyond archival portraits to consider historically and culturally informed diva imagery and diva lore. The diva is ripe for expansion, fantasy, eroticization, and playful reinvention, while simultaneously presenting a challenge to patriarchal culture. Diva Nation asks how the diva disrupts or bolsters ideas about nationhood, morality, and aesthetics"--Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.