The kokinshū : selected poems
Bibliographic Information
The kokinshū : selected poems
translated and introduced by Torquil Duthie
(Translations from the Asian classics)
Columbia University Press, c2023
Available at / 2 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-384) and index
Summary: "The Kokinshu is a thematically divided tenth-century collection of 1,111 Japanese waka poems that was imperially commissioned. For over a thousand years, it was the major source for the associations, motifs, and styles of the Japanese vernacular poetic tradition. Poetic and prose texts as diverse as The Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book, and Basho's haikai poetry all draw from the Kokinshu, making this a foundational work for the study of classical Japanese literature. Duthie's new translation has the specific merit of using the formulaic poetic language that characterizes waka poems in a consistent way. In this volume, he presents a selection of the poems, preserving their narrative sequence, and an introduction geared to classroom use"--Provided by publisher
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Compiled in the early tenth century, the Kokinshu is an anthology of some eleven hundred poems that aimed to elevate the prestige of vernacular Japanese poetry at the imperial court. From shortly after its completion to the end of the nineteenth century, it was celebrated as the cornerstone of the Japanese vernacular poetic tradition. The composition of classical poetry, other later poetic forms such as linked verse and haikai, and vernacular Japanese literary writing in its entirety (including classic works such as Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji and Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book) all draw from the Kokinshu.
This book offers an inviting and immersive selection of roughly one-third of the anthology in English translation. Torquil Duthie focuses on rendering the poetic language of the Kokinshu as a whole, in such a way that readers can understand and experience how its poems work together to create a literary world. He emphasizes that classical Japanese poems do not stand alone as self-contained artifacts but take part in an ongoing intertextual conversation. Duthie provides translations and interpretations of the two prefaces to the Kokinshu, which deeply influenced Japanese literary aesthetics. The book also includes critical essays on various aspects of the anthology and its history. This translation helps specialist and nonspecialist readers alike appreciate the beauty and richness of the Kokinshu, as well as its significance for the Japanese literary tradition.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Translation
Mana Preface
Selected Poems from the Kokinwakashu
Kana Preface
Part II. Essays
1. Poetry Before the Heian Period
2. The Heian Court and Kana Writing
3. The Conception and Structure of the Kokinshu
4. Topics of Composition
5. Prosody and Rhetorical Conventions
6. The Kokinshu Prefaces
7. The Kokinshu Text and Its Commentarial Tradition
8. Translating the Kokinshu
Appendix: Poets in This Book
Bibliography and Further Reading
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"