Sewamono - Sewamono

A type of puppet theatre (joruri) and kabuki (kabuki) script. It is a work based on everyday incidents in the Edo period, with the story performed mainly by ordinary people such as townspeople and farmers. It is contrasted with period pieces based on historical events and featuring samurai and aristocrats, and is a modern play of the time. In joruri, it includes love suicide stories such as "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" and "The Love Suicides at Ten no Amijima" created by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, as well as "Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami," "Futatsuchocho Kuruwa Nikki," and "Shinpan Utazaimon." In Kabuki, this was seen from the early days of Yaro Kabuki, but later in Edo, the rule was one play a day, with sewamono being performed second, subordinate to the jidaimono, until 1794 (Kansei 6) when Namiki Gohei produced Godairikikoi no Fuujime, which marked the first independent sewamono (sewa kyogen) plays. Stylized performances were called jidai sewa, and were the specialty of Tsuruya Namboku IV during the Bunka and Bunsei periods (1804-1830) and Kawatake Mokuami during the late Edo period. Works that realistically portray the lives of the lower classes of common people are sometimes called kizewamono.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

人形浄瑠璃(じょうるり)、歌舞伎(かぶき)脚本の一種別。江戸時代の市井の事件に取材し、町人や農民など一般民衆が中心で劇を運ぶ作品をいう。歴史的な事件に取材し、武家や貴族などを中心とする時代物と対照されるもので、いわば当時の現代劇である。浄瑠璃では近松門左衛門が創作した『曽根崎心中(そねざきしんじゅう)』『心中天網島(てんのあみじま)』などの心中物をはじめ、『夏祭浪花鑑(なにわかがみ)』『双蝶々曲輪日記(ふたつちょうちょうくるわにっき)』『新版歌祭文(しんぱんうたざいもん)』など。歌舞伎では野郎歌舞伎の初期からみられたが、その後江戸では一日一演目を原則とし、一番目の時代物に従属した形で世話物を二番目として上演する形式をとり続け、1794年（寛政6）の並木五瓶(ごへい)作『五大力恋緘(ごだいりきこいのふうじめ)』以後、初めて独立した世話物（世話狂言）もつくられるようになった。なお、演出の様式的なものを「時代世話」とよび、文化・文政(ぶんかぶんせい)期（1804～30）の4世鶴屋南北(なんぼく)や幕末の河竹黙阿弥(もくあみ)などが得意とした。下層の庶民の生活を写実的に描いた作品をとくに「生世話(きぜわ)物」とよぶことがある。

［松井俊諭］

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