What the Hell? Performing the extraordinary: Pandemonium, parade and vengeance

This presentation explores the carnivalesque riot ee ja nai ka, which occurred in the mid-19th century in Japan as a conceptual device for investigating the ambivalent relationship between performance and revolt. I examine this crucial yet underrepresented peculiar historical event in reference to the traditional Japanese iconography of parade hyakkiyagyo (‘the night parade of a hundred demons’). While there have been rich studies of ee ja nai ka from ethnographic and socio-political perspectives, there has been little research on this peculiar riot in relation to the rise of Japanese Avant-Garde or Performance Studies. By discussing ee ja nai ka through the posthuman lens of the vengeance conceived in the traditional Japanese iconography of hyakkiyagyo, I aim to explore where transgression, hedonism and rebellious potentialities meet in the exercise of the performative quality of life beyond the political and ideological, the collective expression in itself, evoked in the counter-normative spirit of the people.