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Performing Transgression

Performing Transgression Crowds and Bodies in Heian Japan - Harvard East Asian Monographs

Hardback (10 Mar 2026)

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Publisher's Synopsis

What happens when performance defies social and political boundaries? Performing Transgression offers a new cultural history of non-elite spectacle in Heian Japan (794-1185), uncovering how performances on the margins—boisterous dengaku music and dance, daring sangaku acrobatics, and the infectious lyrics of imayo songs—challenged and fascinated the aristocracy.Ashton Lazarus reveals how these unruly arts were documented by the very elites they unsettled, appearing in historical chronicles, diaries, prose, poetry, and illustrated scrolls. More than mere precursors to later forms like noh and kyogen, these performances formed a dynamic cultural force with real political impact. By tracing their influence through literary studies, performance studies, and historiography, Lazarus rethinks the interplay between politics, class, and culture in Heian Japan.Performing Transgression illuminates how acts of defiance and creative expression resonate across time, offering fresh insights into the ways performance bridges the vanished past and the present.

About the Publisher

Harvard University Asia Center

Founded in 1913, Harvard University Press is the publisher of such classic works as John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, E. O. Wilson's On Human Nature, and Helen Vendler's Dickinson. The Press continues to be a leading publisher of convergent works in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences, while also taking bold steps in exciting new directions, from innovative partnerships, to a diverse translation program, to an expanded commitment to facilitating scholarly conversation around the globe.

Book information

ISBN: 9780674303430
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Imprint: Harvard University Asia Center
Pub date:
Language: English
Number of pages: 322
Weight: -1g
Height: 229mm
Width: 153mm