Author: Reginald Horace BlythPublisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Senryu
Author: Reginald Horace BlythPublisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
The Woman Without a Hole - & Other Risky Themes from Old Japanese Poems
Author: Robin D. GillPublisher: Paraverse Press
ISBN: 0974261882
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 505
Book Description
17-syllabet Japanese poems about human foibles, sans season (i.e., not haiku), were introduced a half-century ago by RH Blyth in two books, "Edo Satirical Verse Anthologies" and "Japanese Life and Character in Senryu." Blyth regretted having to introduce not the best senryu, but only the best that were clean enough to pass the censors. In this anthology, compiled, translated and essayed by Robin D. Gill, like Blyth, a renowned translator of thousands of haiku, we find 1,300 of the senryu (and zappai) that would once have been dangerous to publish. The book is not just an anthology of dirty poems such as Legman's classic "Limericks" or Burford's delightful "Bawdy Verse," but probing essays of thirty themes representative of the eros - both real and imaginary - of Edo, at the time, the world's largest city. Japanese themselves use senryu for historical documentation of social attitudes and cultural practices; thousands of senryu (and the related zappai), including many poems we might consider obscene, serve as examples in the Japanese equivalent of the OED (nipponkokugodaijiten). The specialized argot, obscure allusions and ellipsis that make reading dirty senryu a delightful riddle for one who knows just enough to be challenged yet not defeated, make them impenetrable to outsiders, so this educational yet entertaining resource has not been accessible to most students of Japanese (and the limited translations prove that even professors have difficulty with it). This book tries to accomplish the impossible: it includes all the information - original poems, pronunciation, explanation, glossary - needed to help specialists improve their senryu reading skills, while refraining from full citations to leave plenty of room for the curious monolingual to skip about the eclectic goodies. [Published simultaneously with two titles as an experiment.]
Light Verse from the Floating World
Author: Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231500494
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 294
Book Description
Similar in form to the well-known, more serious haiku, the satirical—and often humorous—poems known as senryu have received little scholarly attention because most were written by anonymous amateur poets and were therefore considered popular literature unworthy of serious study. Senryu are interesting, however, precisely because they reflect the thoughts and feelings of ordinary townspeople in a way that other more orthodox types of Japanese literature do not. In his introduction on the nature and historical background of the form, Makoto Ueda explores the elements of humor and satire contained in senryu, highlighting the mores that lie behind the laughter the poems evince. Collecting 400 eighteenth- and nineteenth-century poems—with the romanized Japanese verse presented at the bottom of each page—Light Verse from the Floating World is divided into thematic sections, each preceded by a short introduction: satirical senryu, aimed at people of the ruling warrior class and civilians of various professions; senryu on human relationships—between young lovers, husband and wife, parent and child, or family members of different generations; poems on townspeople enjoying themselves in the "amusement" district; ridicule of well-known historical figures; and poems on the poets' general outlook on life. Replete with keen observations on the human world rather than the natural one, this first comprehensive anthology in English translation of this major genre of Japanese literature will appeal to scholars and students of Japanese culture, as well as general readers of poetry.
How to Read a Japanese Poem
Author: Steven D. CarterPublisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231546858
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 373
Book Description
How to Read a Japanese Poem offers a comprehensive approach to making sense of traditional Japanese poetry of all genres and periods. Steven D. Carter explains to Anglophone students the methods of composition and literary interpretation used by Japanese poets, scholars, and critics from ancient times to the present, and adds commentary that will assist the modern reader. How to Read a Japanese Poem presents readings of poems by major figures such as Saigyō and Bashō as well as lesser known poets, with nearly two hundred examples that encompass all genres of Japanese poetry. The book gives attention to well-known forms such as haikai or haiku, as well as ancient songs, comic poems, and linked verse. Each chapter provides examples of a genre in chronological order, followed by notes about authorship and other contextual details, including the time of composition, physical setting, and social occasion. The commentaries focus on a central feature of Japanese poetic discourse: that poems are often occasional, written in specific situations, and are best read in light of their milieu. Carter elucidates key concepts useful in examining Japanese poetics as well as the technical vocabulary of Japanese poetic discourse, familiarizing students with critical terms and concepts. An appendix offers succinct definitions of technical terms and essays on aesthetic ideals and devices.
Poetry and Zen
Author: R. H. BlythPublisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1611809983
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 465
Book Description
Never before published letters and uncollected short writings of R. H. Blyth, champion of Zen and the person who brought haiku to the world. Poetry and Zen assembles a remarkable literary feast: the letters, articles, translations, reviews, and selections from the papers of Reginald Horace Blyth (1898–1964). Following on the landmark success of Zen in English Literature and Oriental Classics (1942), Blyth’s voluminous writings on Zen, Japanese culture, and the Japanese verse forms haiku and senryū captured the imagination of English-speaking readers in the decades following World War II. His enlightening wit and inimitable style struck a particularly sensitive chord in the artistic community, providing inspiration to many poets and writers and helping to kindle global interest in Zen and haiku. Blyth’s penetrating insights on these topics in a series of books published between 1942 and 1970 helped lay the foundation for the remarkable expansion of Zen outside of East Asia, as well as the popularization of haiku as an international verse form that took place after his death. Poetry and Zen is the first collection of Blyth’s letters and short writings. The generous array of Blyth‘s literary output and personal writing on display here showcases the wide-ranging interests and brilliant mind of a pivotal figure in the history of modern Zen and Japanese poetry.
Boo!
Author: Ronald C. SimonsPublisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195096266
Category : Cross-cultural studies
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
Simons uses the startle reflex as a revealing model for covering how evolved neurophysiology shapes personal experience, patterns of recurrence in actions, and the systems of meaning people collectively create and transmit. Using diverse sources, Simons observes how biology is expressed in culture.
Japanese and Americans
Author: Charles Grinnell CleaverPublisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452910480
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
MUSICAGE
Author: John CagePublisher: Wesleyan University Press
ISBN: 0819571865
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 411
Book Description
The pioneering composer and music theorist makes his final on the totality of his work and thought in these three wide-ranging dialogues. “I was obliged to find a radical way to work ― to get at the real, at the root of the matter,” John Cage says in this trio of dialogues, completed just days before his death. This quest led him beyond the bounds of convention in all his musical, written, and visual pieces. The resulting expansion of the definition of art earned him a reputation as one of America's most influential contemporary artists. Joan Retallack's conversations with Cage explore his artistic production in its entirety. Cage's comments range from his theories of chance and indeterminate composition to his long-time collaboration with Merce Cunningham to the aesthetics of his multimedia works. In her comprehensive introduction, Retallack describes Cage’s lifelong project as “dislodging cultural authoritarianism and gridlock by inviting surprising conjunctions within carefully delimited frameworks and processes.” Consummate performer to the end, Cage delivers here just such a conjunction ― a tour de force that provides new insights into the man and a clearer view of the status of art in the twentieth century.
Baseball Haiku: The Best Haiku Ever Written about the Game
Author: Cor van den HeuvelPublisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393062198
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
One of the more unusual baseball books of the season, this remarkable new collection, which includes poems from both America and Japan, captures perfectly the thrill of the game in haiku.
The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry
Author: Irene De AngelisPublisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230355196
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry provides a stimulating, original and lively analysis of the Irish-Japanese literary connection from the early 1960s to 2007. While for some this may partly remain Oscar Wilde's 'mode of style', this book will show that there is more of Japan in the work of contemporary Irish poets than 'a tinkling of china/ and tea into china.' Drawing on unpublished new sources, Irene De Angelis includes poets from a broad range of cultural backgrounds with richly varied styles: Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Ciaran Carson and Paul Muldoon, together with younger poets such as Sinéad Morrissey and Joseph Woods. Including close readings of selected poems, this is an indispensable companion for all those interested in the broader historical and cultural research on the effect of oriental literature in modernist and postmodernist Irish poetry.