Matjaž Matošec
Supervisors: Prof. dr. Karl Kügle
Phone: +31 30 253 9981
Address: Department of Media and Culture Studies
Faculty of Humanities
Utrecht University
Kromme Nieuwegracht 20
Room 2.13
3512 HH Utrecht
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 30 253 9981
Address: Department of Media and Culture Studies
Faculty of Humanities
Utrecht University
Kromme Nieuwegracht 20
Room 2.13
3512 HH Utrecht
The Netherlands
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Papers by Matjaž Matošec
Perceptions of the human voice and of gender are interconnected. This is the central premise of this thesis, which explores the complex interplay between vocal timbre, pitch, and various constructions of gender, using as a focal context the operatic castrato and the onnagata, a male actor specialising in female roles in Japanese kabuki theatre. Viewed as paradigmatic examples of gender ambiguity on- and off-stage, the two phenomena and genres originated independently of each other in early 17th-century Italy and Japan. They are examined comparatively here for the first time.
Chapter one defines the theoretical framework necessary to establish the interconnection between voice and gender. John Langshaw Austin’s concept of the performative and his speech act theory are used to show that the meaning of every single human utterance as perceived by the listener is influenced by a variety of factors, one of them being the voice as a signifier of gender. Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity is used to demonstrate that voice not only indicates gender but also plays a crucial role in its construction. The conclusion is that voice single-handedly has sufficient potential to transgress culturally established gender boundaries, as a result decisively being able to mark (or blur) established gender categories.
The following two chapters discuss the social, cultural, and political conditions that led to the emergence, rise, and decline of the operatic castrato and Edo-period onnagata. The “unnatural” body and voice of the castrato and the highly stylized bodily and vocal transformation of the onnagata from male to the embodiment of femininity were the primary sources of their gendered otherness. Both performing traditions evolved in two patriarchal societies whose conceptions of sex, gender, sexuality, and the human body markedly differed from our modern ones, providing a cultural climate and an ideological framework enabling them not only to “survive” but also to be admired as artists and oftentimes desired as sexual partners, by men and women alike. The differences between pre-modern and current conceptions of sex and gender are clearly reflected in the fact that soon after the modern, binary model of gender construction achieved dominance in 19th-century Europe and post-Tokugawa Japan, castrati became extinct while onnagata stopped with the practise of living as onnagata in everyday life.
Chapter four elucidates those aspects of the physiology and functioning of the human voice that are crucial to understanding the differences between a “normally” developed and/or trained voice and that of a castrato and an onnagata. Castration performed before the onset of puberty prevented the vocal folds from growing, thereby preserving the high-pitched voice of a prepubescent boy. Coupled with its other physical effects as well as prolonged and intensive vocal training, the castrato developed a voice of unique sound qualities, easily distinguishable from others regardless whether used in speech or song. An onnagata achieved a similar effect by using his hormonally unaltered male voice in a very special way. Unique vocal patterns and techniques, including constant shifting between falsetto and chest registers, serve to produce a variety of sounds signifying his otherness from both average contemporary males and females equally clearly in the theatre and outside it.
By arguing that male and female genders are two sets of culturally specific expectations imposed upon the human body that encompass a wide range of possibilities, in particular within the specific contexts of body manipulations, and by emphasising the role of voice in this context, this study suggests that the human voice alone has the power of significantly shaping the boundaries of culturally predominant gender categories. In doing so, the thesis establishes that the human voice and gender are inseparably connected and mutually condition one another, a point hitherto barely made in both gender studies and musicology. Moreover, by considering the ways the operatic castrato and the onnagata were conceptualised and perceived before and after the widespread acceptance of the current, binary model of gender construction in Europe and Japan, it demonstrates the cultural power of the concept of gender as well as its historically unstable nature.
Perceptions of the human voice and of gender are interconnected. This is the central premise of this thesis, which explores the complex interplay between vocal timbre, pitch, and various constructions of gender, using as a focal context the operatic castrato and the onnagata, a male actor specialising in female roles in Japanese kabuki theatre. Viewed as paradigmatic examples of gender ambiguity on- and off-stage, the two phenomena and genres originated independently of each other in early 17th-century Italy and Japan. They are examined comparatively here for the first time.
Chapter one defines the theoretical framework necessary to establish the interconnection between voice and gender. John Langshaw Austin’s concept of the performative and his speech act theory are used to show that the meaning of every single human utterance as perceived by the listener is influenced by a variety of factors, one of them being the voice as a signifier of gender. Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity is used to demonstrate that voice not only indicates gender but also plays a crucial role in its construction. The conclusion is that voice single-handedly has sufficient potential to transgress culturally established gender boundaries, as a result decisively being able to mark (or blur) established gender categories.
The following two chapters discuss the social, cultural, and political conditions that led to the emergence, rise, and decline of the operatic castrato and Edo-period onnagata. The “unnatural” body and voice of the castrato and the highly stylized bodily and vocal transformation of the onnagata from male to the embodiment of femininity were the primary sources of their gendered otherness. Both performing traditions evolved in two patriarchal societies whose conceptions of sex, gender, sexuality, and the human body markedly differed from our modern ones, providing a cultural climate and an ideological framework enabling them not only to “survive” but also to be admired as artists and oftentimes desired as sexual partners, by men and women alike. The differences between pre-modern and current conceptions of sex and gender are clearly reflected in the fact that soon after the modern, binary model of gender construction achieved dominance in 19th-century Europe and post-Tokugawa Japan, castrati became extinct while onnagata stopped with the practise of living as onnagata in everyday life.
Chapter four elucidates those aspects of the physiology and functioning of the human voice that are crucial to understanding the differences between a “normally” developed and/or trained voice and that of a castrato and an onnagata. Castration performed before the onset of puberty prevented the vocal folds from growing, thereby preserving the high-pitched voice of a prepubescent boy. Coupled with its other physical effects as well as prolonged and intensive vocal training, the castrato developed a voice of unique sound qualities, easily distinguishable from others regardless whether used in speech or song. An onnagata achieved a similar effect by using his hormonally unaltered male voice in a very special way. Unique vocal patterns and techniques, including constant shifting between falsetto and chest registers, serve to produce a variety of sounds signifying his otherness from both average contemporary males and females equally clearly in the theatre and outside it.
By arguing that male and female genders are two sets of culturally specific expectations imposed upon the human body that encompass a wide range of possibilities, in particular within the specific contexts of body manipulations, and by emphasising the role of voice in this context, this study suggests that the human voice alone has the power of significantly shaping the boundaries of culturally predominant gender categories. In doing so, the thesis establishes that the human voice and gender are inseparably connected and mutually condition one another, a point hitherto barely made in both gender studies and musicology. Moreover, by considering the ways the operatic castrato and the onnagata were conceptualised and perceived before and after the widespread acceptance of the current, binary model of gender construction in Europe and Japan, it demonstrates the cultural power of the concept of gender as well as its historically unstable nature.