A Multilayer Framework for Call-and-Response Phenomena: Deep-Level Mechanisms and Age-Related Variations Across Cultures

This study proposes a multilayer framework for understanding call-and-response phenomena across cultures.

The framework distinguishes three analytical layers—deep-level universal mechanisms, culturally specific intermediate structures, and surface-level performative designs—and demonstrates how these layers jointly shape audience participation, improvisation, and emotional synchronisation. Drawing on cross-cultural observations and age-related comparisons, the study shows that older adults often exhibit heightened responsiveness due to accumulated cultural scripts and embodied ritual experience.

The framework is further applied to locally rooted performance groups such as busho-tai (warrior troupes), illustrating how their practices constitute not historical reenactment but historical reconstruction: a selective reinterpretation of regional narratives mediated through surface-level performance choices.

By integrating universal mechanisms with culturally grounded variations, the multilayer model provides a unified theoretical account of how call-and-response emerges, evolves, and acquires social meaning in diverse contexts.