There is an interesting thread going on at PMJS (Premodern Japanese Studies), a network and listserv for scholars in a variety of humanities-related fields. The thread was started by Chris Kern of Ohio State/Waseda.
Lots of good comments there. Here are three things it mentions that I'm adding to my library:
We have a problem - in theory
Paula Curtis
on the blog "What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies?" (its URL tells it all: shimpaideshou: "bit of a worry, you know")
"Future Philology? The Fate of a Soft Science in a Hard World"
Sheldon Pollock
Critical Inquiry 35 (Summer 2009):
931-96
The link goes to JSTOR.
"Theory and the Early Modern: Some Notes on a Difficult Relationship,"
Michael Moriarty
Paragraph, 29:1 (Mar 2006), pp. 1-11
The link goes to Project Muse.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
For Valentines Day: Vulgarity, Poverty, and Poetry
Here are some notes on the first chapter of Haikai to kanbungaku 俳諧と漢文学 (Haikai and kanbun [literature in Chinese written in Japan]), Wakan Comparative Literature Association, eds. 和漢比較文学会編, 1994. (和漢比較文学叢書第16巻). The chapter is called Haikai to kanshi 俳諧と漢詩 (Haikai and kanshi [poetry in Chinese written in Japan]), and is by Hino Tatsuo 日野龍夫.
The chapter starts with a proverb, 貧の盗みに恋の歌 "Poverty makes larceny; love makes poems"; That is to say, given enough desperation, even law-abiding people might steal; likewise, smitten by romance, the most unpoetic people can be inspired to versify. Having said that, though, Hino reminds us that classical uta (歌) don't include references to poverty; uta concern themselves with elegance--nature, love etc., not matters of everyday life.
On the other hand, the classical poetry of China is full of references to poverty. Hino cites Mei Yaochen 梅堯臣 as an example, of whom Ouyang Xiu 歐陽脩 wrote, "The poorer one is the more skillful one's poetry gets. Having said that, it is not skill in poetry that makes people poor. It is probably that having become poor, afterward one develops skill." Viewed in the light of the proverb, this tells us something about the essential natures of classical waka and of kanshi.
Hino gives us this part of a famous Mei Yaochen poem, "Looking Back in Sorrow" 懷悲 :
(That's just the first half of the poem. The poor lady dies after putting up with all that.)
Hino points out that this kind of poem would never had been written by a waka poet. While poverty wasn't always a theme in Chinese poetry (not in Shi jing, anyway) it came to be included as one of the things you might write about, along with the rest of human experience, pretty much.
When Japanese haikai poets take up the theme of poverty, their stance on the matter is considerably different. Both of the following are by Buson:
The distance between haikai and kanshi is shorter than that between haikai and waka; the distance between kanshi and haikai is shorter than that between kanshi and waka, The practice of referring to poverty in haikai no doubt comes from kanshi.
Hino cites another passage from Mei Yaochen as comparison:
From "Swarm of mosquitoes" 聚蚊
Generally speaking, though, there is a big difference, between the attitude towards poverty in classical Chinese poetry and that in haikai. Chinese poets tended to write about their own experience being poor, and the main point that they're expressing is resentment for being in that state. The typical scenario is a highly educated person who either repeatedly fails the official exam and thus can't get a good job; or someone who gets a bad job (one in a remote province) and can't keep it. This isn't the sort of thing you get in Japanese poetry. Japanese poetry that mentions poverty is far more likely to present it as a form of elegant austerity -- the minimalist existence of a recluse, rather than the sad squalor of a worthy person suffering unjust deprivation.
Hino cites a very interesting passage from Gion Nankai's 祇園南海 『詩学逢原}』that I'll paraphrase:
Hino then cites this passage from the famous 20-verse series "Drinking Wine" by Tao Yuanming. This is from verse 16:
In this example from one of the Chinese poets most beloved in Japan, the speaker is poor, angry, and full of resentment.
To sum up Hino's points here, Chinese poems take on the subject of poverty; it is a "cultivated person's" 君子 own poverty expressed as a protest against an unfair government. Making such protests are the duty of a cultivated person. A cultivated person maintains his or her dignity despite reduced circumstances. Cultivated persons who were faced with hardship were supposed to complain.
In Japan, it's not that haikai poets didn't ever write about noble resentment. However, they were more interested in more subtle emotions: the pathos of the situation, rather than its injustice.
The chapter starts with a proverb, 貧の盗みに恋の歌 "Poverty makes larceny; love makes poems"; That is to say, given enough desperation, even law-abiding people might steal; likewise, smitten by romance, the most unpoetic people can be inspired to versify. Having said that, though, Hino reminds us that classical uta (歌) don't include references to poverty; uta concern themselves with elegance--nature, love etc., not matters of everyday life.
On the other hand, the classical poetry of China is full of references to poverty. Hino cites Mei Yaochen 梅堯臣 as an example, of whom Ouyang Xiu 歐陽脩 wrote, "The poorer one is the more skillful one's poetry gets. Having said that, it is not skill in poetry that makes people poor. It is probably that having become poor, afterward one develops skill." Viewed in the light of the proverb, this tells us something about the essential natures of classical waka and of kanshi.
Hino gives us this part of a famous Mei Yaochen poem, "Looking Back in Sorrow" 懷悲 :
自爾歸我家, 未嘗厭貧窶。
夜縫每至子, 朝飯輒過午。
十日九食齏, 一日儻有脯。
東西十八年, 相與同甘苦。
When you came to my home, you never resented its poverty.
Always sewing until midnight, you ate breakfast after noontime
Nine days out of ten was pickles, one day we'd have dried meat.
East and west eighteen years, together we shared the sweet and the bitter.
(That's just the first half of the poem. The poor lady dies after putting up with all that.)
Hino points out that this kind of poem would never had been written by a waka poet. While poverty wasn't always a theme in Chinese poetry (not in Shi jing, anyway) it came to be included as one of the things you might write about, along with the rest of human experience, pretty much.
When Japanese haikai poets take up the theme of poverty, their stance on the matter is considerably different. Both of the following are by Buson:
貧乏に追ひつかれけりけさの秋
overtaken
by poverty
morning in autumn
月天心貧しき町を通りけり
moon-bright heaven
all across
the slum
The distance between haikai and kanshi is shorter than that between haikai and waka; the distance between kanshi and haikai is shorter than that between kanshi and waka, The practice of referring to poverty in haikai no doubt comes from kanshi.
蚊はつらく蚊遣いぶせきうき世哉 (几董)
mosquitoes are miserable
mosquito incense a nuisance
world of sorrows (Kitô)
我にあまる罪や妻子を蚊の喰らう(大魯)
paying for my excessive sins
my wife and child
bitten by mosquitoes (Tairo)
Hino cites another passage from Mei Yaochen as comparison:
From "Swarm of mosquitoes" 聚蚊
貴人居大第，蛟綃圍枕席，
嗟爾於其中，寧誇嘴如戟。
忍哉傍窮困，曾未哀臞瘠，
利吻競相侵，飲血自求益。
Aristocrats live in big houses;
their beds are surrounded by mosquito nets;
oh, in places like that,
you'd be prouder of your piercing mouths.
Is it not cruel of you to always torment the poor?
You have no pity on those already emaciated;
You vie with one another to see who has the sharpest bite,
Drinking blood you seek to fatten yourselves.
Generally speaking, though, there is a big difference, between the attitude towards poverty in classical Chinese poetry and that in haikai. Chinese poets tended to write about their own experience being poor, and the main point that they're expressing is resentment for being in that state. The typical scenario is a highly educated person who either repeatedly fails the official exam and thus can't get a good job; or someone who gets a bad job (one in a remote province) and can't keep it. This isn't the sort of thing you get in Japanese poetry. Japanese poetry that mentions poverty is far more likely to present it as a form of elegant austerity -- the minimalist existence of a recluse, rather than the sad squalor of a worthy person suffering unjust deprivation.
Hino cites a very interesting passage from Gion Nankai's 祇園南海 『詩学逢原}』that I'll paraphrase:
Not only painting, but the koto, chess, calligraphy, and painting also all emphasize elegance. If we talk about landscape painting, when you paint the houses of people in the mountains or fields, don't include outhouses, compost piles, or cooking pots; that is bad taste. If we talk about painting people, don't include their private parts; that's obscene. Depict elegance, don't depict vulgarity.While a lot of this is similar to standards in old-style Chinese poetry, it is virtually indistinguishable from what you'd find listed as the expectations of waka. By contrast, there are plenty of poems in which haikai poets mention scatalogical topics.
Hino then cites this passage from the famous 20-verse series "Drinking Wine" by Tao Yuanming. This is from verse 16:
陶渊明飲酒二十首
敝盧交悲風, 荒草沒前庭.
披褐守長夜, 晨雞不肯鳴.
孟公不在茲, 終以翳吾情.
A mournful wind blows through the ruined house,
Wild weeds fill the garden.
Wearing old clothes, I keep watch in the long night
When dawn comes, even the rooster disdains to crow.
Duke Meng is not here,
In the end I hide away my own feelings.
In this example from one of the Chinese poets most beloved in Japan, the speaker is poor, angry, and full of resentment.
To sum up Hino's points here, Chinese poems take on the subject of poverty; it is a "cultivated person's" 君子 own poverty expressed as a protest against an unfair government. Making such protests are the duty of a cultivated person. A cultivated person maintains his or her dignity despite reduced circumstances. Cultivated persons who were faced with hardship were supposed to complain.
In Japan, it's not that haikai poets didn't ever write about noble resentment. However, they were more interested in more subtle emotions: the pathos of the situation, rather than its injustice.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Everything Old/New is New/Old Again
Notes on 江戸文学の冒険 (Explorations in Edo Literature) that I mentioned in the post below.
I enjoyed this essay: 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に (The novelty of Edo-period literary arts: Saikaku, Bashô, Chikamatsu as examples) by 大輪靖宏 Ôwa Yasuhiro. My views about it might be a bit biased, though, by something I've been thinking about lately: the reflexive defensiveness some specialists in pre-modern literature have about the relevance of their interest to "people today," especially students. That, on the one hand, and the sense that I get from some specialists in modern literature that what we pre-modernists are interested in is somehow utterly alien and unrelated to what they do. I find it puzzling and a little sad. Perhaps in another post I might indulge in a genteel rant, but as I don't think it would be all that productive, I'll do something else first, which is write up my notes about Mr. Ôwa's essay.
The main point of the essay is that the Edo period was a time of experimentation in literature, particularly in the case of Saikaku, Bashô, and Chikamatsu. Saikaku depicted his characters with "naked" realism; Bashô's haiku has universal appeal because he included imagery like lice, fleas, and urine -- earthy stuff which you'd expect to find in modern poetry. Thus, compared with the literature of the classical period, Edo period writing has much freshness and novelty to it.
The part of the essay that stood out to me was his discussion of a comment about the modern haiku poet Hino Sōjō's 日野草城 Miyako Hotel ミヤコ・ホテル that is cited in Fukumoto Ichirô's 復本一郎 Hino Sōjō: Haiku o kaeta otoko 日野草城 俳句を変えた男 (Hino Sôjô: The man who changed haiku, Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan, 2005). Fukumoto cites Murakami Fumihiko 村上文彦 saying, "I got interested in composing haiku after reading Hino Sôjô's series Miyako Hotel. Up until that point I knew no more haiku than Bashô's 'old pond' verse. I hadn't dreamed that haiku could have that kind of freshness to it." Ôwa says he doesn't want to talk about Hino Sôjô or Murakami Fumihiko, just that the comment uses Bashô's old pond verse as an example of the old-fashionedness of haiku.
I enjoyed this essay: 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に (The novelty of Edo-period literary arts: Saikaku, Bashô, Chikamatsu as examples) by 大輪靖宏 Ôwa Yasuhiro. My views about it might be a bit biased, though, by something I've been thinking about lately: the reflexive defensiveness some specialists in pre-modern literature have about the relevance of their interest to "people today," especially students. That, on the one hand, and the sense that I get from some specialists in modern literature that what we pre-modernists are interested in is somehow utterly alien and unrelated to what they do. I find it puzzling and a little sad. Perhaps in another post I might indulge in a genteel rant, but as I don't think it would be all that productive, I'll do something else first, which is write up my notes about Mr. Ôwa's essay.
The main point of the essay is that the Edo period was a time of experimentation in literature, particularly in the case of Saikaku, Bashô, and Chikamatsu. Saikaku depicted his characters with "naked" realism; Bashô's haiku has universal appeal because he included imagery like lice, fleas, and urine -- earthy stuff which you'd expect to find in modern poetry. Thus, compared with the literature of the classical period, Edo period writing has much freshness and novelty to it.
The part of the essay that stood out to me was his discussion of a comment about the modern haiku poet Hino Sōjō's 日野草城 Miyako Hotel ミヤコ・ホテル that is cited in Fukumoto Ichirô's 復本一郎 Hino Sōjō: Haiku o kaeta otoko 日野草城 俳句を変えた男 (Hino Sôjô: The man who changed haiku, Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan, 2005). Fukumoto cites Murakami Fumihiko 村上文彦 saying, "I got interested in composing haiku after reading Hino Sôjô's series Miyako Hotel. Up until that point I knew no more haiku than Bashô's 'old pond' verse. I hadn't dreamed that haiku could have that kind of freshness to it." Ôwa says he doesn't want to talk about Hino Sôjô or Murakami Fumihiko, just that the comment uses Bashô's old pond verse as an example of the old-fashionedness of haiku.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
On my bookshelf
Here are some books I've been looking through:
1,
江戸文学〈37〉特集 江戸の文体—その生成と文彩
Edo Literature Studies 37, Special Issue: Edo Literary Style: Its Formation and Figuration
I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
a. 近世文体史を探る—文体指標性の喪失及び文体の創造性について
b. 漢詩文調の文体—芭蕉俳諧を中心に
c. 俳文の文体—芭蕉俳文の修辞的分析
2,
江戸文学の冒険
Explorations in Edo Literature
a. 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に(大輪靖宏)
b. 取合せ〉の可能性…実作のための芭蕉論 (峯尾文世)
Oh dear, that's as far as I'll get with this blog entry for now. Stay tuned for more.
1,
江戸文学〈37〉特集 江戸の文体—その生成と文彩
Edo Literature Studies 37, Special Issue: Edo Literary Style: Its Formation and Figuration
小池 清治
Koike Seiji
堀切 実
Horikiri Minoru
ぺりかん社 2007
Pelikansha 2007
I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
a. 近世文体史を探る—文体指標性の喪失及び文体の創造性について
b. 漢詩文調の文体—芭蕉俳諧を中心に
c. 俳文の文体—芭蕉俳文の修辞的分析
2,
江戸文学の冒険
Explorations in Edo Literature
大輪靖宏I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
Ôwa Yasuhiro
翰林書房
Kanrin Shobô 2007
a. 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に(大輪靖宏)
b. 取合せ〉の可能性…実作のための芭蕉論 (峯尾文世)
Oh dear, that's as far as I'll get with this blog entry for now. Stay tuned for more.
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