The Tale of Matsura
Title | The Tale of Matsura PDF eBook |
Author | Wayne Lammers |
Publisher | University of Michigan Press |
Pages | 223 |
Release | 2020-08-06 |
Genre | Language Arts & Disciplines |
ISBN | 0472901591 |
Fujiwara Teika is known as the premier poet and literary scholar of the early 13th century. It is not so widely known that he also tried his hand at fiction: Mumyōzōshi (Untitled Leaves; ca. 1201) refers to “several works” by Teika and then names Matsura no miya monogatari (The Tale of Matsura; ca. 1190) as the only one that can be considered successful. The work is here translated in full, with annotation. Set in the pre-Nara period, The Tale of Matsura is the story of a young Japanese courtier, Ujitada, who is sent to China with an embassy and has a number of supernatural experiences while there. Affairs of the heart dominate The Tale of Matsura, as is standard for courtly tales. Several of its other features break the usual mold, however: its time and setting; the military episode that would seem to belong instead in a war tale; scenes depicting the sovereign’s daily audiences, in which formal court business is conducted; a substantial degree of specificity in referring to things Chinese; a heavy reliance on fantastic and supernatural elements; an obvious effort to avoid imitating The Tale of Genji as other late-Heian tales had done; and a most inventive ending. The discussion in the introduction briefly touches upon each of these features, and then focuses at some length on how characteristics associated with the poetic ideal of yōen inform the tale. Evidence relating to the date and authorship of the tale is explored in two appendixes.
The Tale of Matsura
Title | The Tale of Matsura PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 208 |
Release | 1992 |
Genre | Matsura no Miya monogatari |
ISBN | 9780472127641 |
A Poetic Ideal in a Narrative Context
Title | A Poetic Ideal in a Narrative Context PDF eBook |
Author | Wayne P. Lammers |
Publisher | |
Pages | 477 |
Release | 1987 |
Genre | Japanese literature |
ISBN |
tales, it is informed by supernatural elements almost from beginning to end.
Tales of Times Now Past
Title | Tales of Times Now Past PDF eBook |
Author | Marian Ury |
Publisher | Univ of California Press |
Pages | 224 |
Release | 1979 |
Genre | Literary Collections |
ISBN | 9780520038646 |
The Novel: An Alternative History
Title | The Novel: An Alternative History PDF eBook |
Author | Steven Moore |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Pages | 705 |
Release | 2013-09-17 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1441133364 |
Encyclopedic in scope and heroically audacious, The Novel: An Alternative History is the first attempt in over a century to tell the complete story of our most popular literary form. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the novel did not originate in 18th-century England, nor even with Don Quixote, but is coeval with civilization itself. After a pugnacious introduction, in which Moore defends innovative, demanding novelists against their conservative critics, the book relaxes into a world tour of the pre-modern novel, beginning in ancient Egypt and ending in 16th-century China, with many exotic ports-of-call: Greek romances; Roman satires; medieval Sanskrit novels narrated by parrots; Byzantine erotic thrillers; 5000-page Arabian adventure novels; Icelandic sagas; delicate Persian novels in verse; Japanese war stories; even Mayan graphic novels. Throughout, Moore celebrates the innovators in fiction, tracing a continuum between these pre-modern experimentalists and their postmodern progeny. Irreverent, iconoclastic, informative, entertaining-The Novel: An Alternative History is a landmark in literary criticism that will encourage readers to rethink the novel.
The Sarashina Diary
Title | The Sarashina Diary PDF eBook |
Author | Sugawara no Takasue no Musume |
Publisher | Columbia University Press |
Pages | 99 |
Release | 2018-03-20 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 0231546823 |
A thousand years ago, a young Japanese girl embarked on a journey from deep in the countryside of eastern Japan to the capital. Forty years later, with the long account of that journey as a foundation, the mature woman skillfully created an autobiography that incorporates many moments of heightened awareness from her long life. Married at age thirty-three, she identified herself as a reader and writer more than as a wife and mother; enthralled by fiction, she bore witness to the dangers of romantic fantasy as well as the enduring consolation of self-expression. This reader’s edition streamlines Sonja Arntzen and Moriyuki Itō’s acclaimed translation of the Sarashina Diary for general readers and classroom use. This translation captures the lyrical richness of the original text while revealing its subtle structure and ironic meaning, highlighting the author’s deep concern for Buddhist belief and practice and the juxtaposition of poetic passages and narrative prose. The translators’ commentary offers insight into the author’s family and world, as well as the style, structure, and textual history of her work.
A Robe of Feathers
Title | A Robe of Feathers PDF eBook |
Author | Thersa Matsuura |
Publisher | Catapult |
Pages | 210 |
Release | 2009-03-25 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 1582439397 |
In Japan, the line that divides myth from reality is not merely blurred, it is nonexistent. Superstitions, legends, and folk myths are passed down through generations and pervade daily living. When a child playing near a river fails to return home, it is whispered that she was swept away by an adzuki arai, or Bean Washer. When a man boarding a ship hears the ringing of an unseen insect, it is announced that a funadama (Boat Spirit) is present and so the auspicious harbinger of smooth seas and abundant catch is celebrated. Even something as innocuous as waking up to find your pillow at the foot of your bed is thought to be the trick of a makura gaeshi, otherwise known as a Pillow Turner. Nothing is as simple as it seems. Your neighbor isn't merely an eccentric old woman—she might very well be a shape–shifting, grudge–harboring Water Sprite. The Japanese examine life and living with the keenest eyes and the most vivid of imaginations. Thersa Matsuura has captured that essence in this darkly insightful collection illuminating the place where reality falters and slips into the strange and fantastical.