A Phenomenological Analysis of Body Deformity in Tatsumi Hijikata’s Butoh: An Intermedial Reading of the Aesthetic Influences of Francis Bacon’s Paintings

Jafari, Pooya; Mahdi Zadeh, Reza

doi:10.22034/theater.2025.505739.1117

A Phenomenological Analysis of Body Deformity in Tatsumi Hijikata’s Butoh: An Intermedial Reading of the Aesthetic Influences of Francis Bacon’s Paintings

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Pooya Jafari ¹

Reza Mahdi Zadeh ²

¹ MA in Acting, Faculty of Cinema and Theatre, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran

² Instructor, Faculty of Cinema and Theater, Iran University of Art, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/theater.2025.505739.1117

Abstract

This research examines the reflection of the concept of deformation in Tatsumi Hijikata's Butoh performances, influenced by the paintings of Francis Bacon. In the post-World War II era, Japanese artists, including Hijikata, sought to redefine their identity, focusing on the body as a medium for expressing collective and individual experiences. Hijikata created performances based on bodily deformation to represent concepts such as decay, collapse, and disintegration, while Francis Bacon similarly expressed analogous themes in his paintings by distorting human figures. This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of deformation in Hijikata’s Butoh and Bacon’s paintings using an intertextual analysis method, exploring how these shared concepts transition from visual media to live performance. The central question is how Bacon’s paintings influenced the representation of deformation in Hijikata’s Butoh. To answer this, two of Bacon’s paintings referenced in Hijikata’s Butoh-fu and two scenes from his performances are analyzed. The findings reveal that Hijikata did not merely imitate but adapted the theme of deformation through embodiment. Both artists, by deviating from classical narratives and breaking predetermined forms, sought to express an ambiguous and indeterminate truth. The results indicate a meaningful connection between Bacon’s paintings and Hijikata’s performances, demonstrating that Butoh-fu served as an initial framework for exploring deformed bodies and redefining post-war Japanese identity. At the level of artistic techniques, the research reveals that Hijikata employed three primary mechanisms in translating visual concepts into performance: structural translation (converting visual composition into bodily relationships), spatial expansion (extending deformation from the face to the entire body), and temporal transformation (turning the static moment of painting into a dynamic performative process). This study highlights the importance of a comparative approach in analyzing interdisciplinary influences in performance arts and suggests that deformation, in both media, served as a means of expressing the human condition in the face of existential crises.

Keywords

Deformity

Tatsumi Hijikata

Butoh

Butoh-fu

Francis Bacon