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- Convenor:
-
Yoichi Iikura
(Osaka University)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Judit Arokay
(Heidelberg University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Pre-modern Literature
- Location:
- Auditorium 5 Jeanne Weimer
- Sessions:
- Saturday 19 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
We are a group working on a joint research project "Digital Literary Map of Japan". Our panel will discuss the evocative power of famous places (名所), its effects and meaning in pre-modern literature, taking examples from waka and kanshi poetry. Noh theater, and Edo period prose literature.
Long Abstract:
For the past several years, our group consisting of members from Japan, Germany and China, has been working on a joint research project, "Digital Literary Map of Japan". We have mapped the locations of famous poetic places (utamakura) that appear in the Imperial Anthologies of waka poetry, the Ise Monogatari, the Tale of Genji, and the Tale of the Heike etc. on a digital map of Japan, visualized the geographical relationships among utamakura, described their history, their characteristics, imagery associated with them, and registered them in a database with excerpts from texts. Using this database, it is now possible to verify the formation process of the imagery of utamakura.
Through this joint research, we were able to confirm the evocative power of famous poetic places in a variety of literary texts. In this panel, the members of this joint research group will discuss the effects and meanings of the evocative power of famous places in pre-modern literature from various perspectives.
In the first presentation, we will consider meisho by comparing Japanese and Chinese literary spots as they are used in waka and kanshi. In the second presentation, we will take up the michiyuki sequences in Noh plays, examine their methods of signification, and consider the general characteristics of michiyuki in Noh. In the third presentation, we will examine three novels (yomihon) from the mid-Edo period where the authors expand their ideas about waka poems and the poetic place names included in them through the voice of the characters in their novels. The fourth presentation will focus on the revival of a poetic event called monoawase from the Heian period, which took place at the Sumida River in Edo in the 18th century, and consider the motif of "longing for the capital" evoked by this famous site.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 19 August, 2023, -Paper short abstract:
In Noh, meisho are not only employed as the setting for stories, but also evoke synoptic sentiments by quoting famous poems composed about these places. What function, then, does the michiyuki have? This paper focusses on meisho and the michiyuki text, and considers its function in drama.
Paper long abstract:
In Noh, famous places and historic sites（meisho）are deliberately imported as settings for stories. In these plays, waka and kanshi are often sited which have the given meisho as subject. The aim of the citation is not to show off rhetorical techniques, in the first line. According to Zeami's treatise on Noh, San-dō, which describes dramaturgical techniques in Noh, the waka and Chinese poems about famous places and historic sites that are known to everyone should be placed at the climax of a Noh play and should be uttered by the main character. This means that the sentiments and emotions in famous waka poems associated with a certain place became a fixed image, which, when matched with the emotions of the Noh characters, could have the effect of effectively evoking sympathy from the audience. This is the same as the function of utamakura. How, then, does the michiyuki, which is a opening scene in many Noh plays, affect the play? In Japanese literature and performing arts, the michiyuki, which expresses the journey to a destination by reciting the names of famous places along the way, frequently appears in a special style of expression. This style has its origins in the ancient songs recorded in the chronicles Nihonshoki and Kojiki, in the poems of the Man'yōshū, and was perfected as lyrical expression of people traveling in the Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) and Taiheiki (Records of the Heike). This presentation will examine the characteristics of michiyuki in Noh, taking into consideration the influence of this complex literary background.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation focuses on Wakan Meisho Shikaawase (1272), a selection of kanshi and waka composed on the subject of famous places (meisho) of China and Japan. I will explore the characteristics of meisho, the specificities of waka and kanshi’ in this regard, and their connection with later works.
Paper long abstract:
Famous places (meisho) have been emphasized in Japanese literature and have been included in a wide variety of works. In particular, in Japanese-style poetry (waka), there is an extensive use of utamakura, names of famous places linked to specific associations or sentiments. Similarly, in Chinese-style poetry (kanshi), we also commonly find names of places that have become well known through their inclusion in poems and evoke unique images. Most of the existing studies focus either on meisho in waka poetry or on meisho in kanshi poetry, but here, I will attempt to take up both at the same time. To this end, I chose to focus on Wakan Meisho Shiikaawase (Fujiwara no Motoie, about 1272), a work which uncharacteristically includes both kanshi and waka composed on the subject (dai) of Chinese famous places as well as Japanese famous places.
With this work as my research’s object, I will examine the characteristics and the arrangement of Chinese and Japanese meisho. I will also study the way kanshi and waka are composed as well as the connection between both genres. Lastly, I will highlight similarities between Wakan Meisho Shiikaawase and later poetry in the poetic treatment of meisho. Thus, through this presentation, I will have to reflect upon the cultural origin of meisho as well as the interaction, fusion and development of Japanese and Chinese “famous places” in poetry.
Paper short abstract:
In the genre “early yomihon” in the Edo period, there were several works with characters displaying their academic knowledge. In some of them the author has characters discuss waka poems from the viewpoint of literary geography. I will consider the aim and the historical background of these works.
Paper long abstract:
Among the “early yomihon” (zenki yomihon) of the mid-18th century, there were several works in which the authors’ knowledge and theories were discussed by the characters.
In this presentation, I will introduce some of these works in which the characters discuss waka poems from the viewpoint of literary geography. I will also consider the authors’ aim in each work, the reasons for having the characters talk about such topics, and their historical background.
The following three stories are the subject of my presentation:
• Hanabusa-zōshi, story 1, "Emperor Go-Daigo ignoring Fujifusa’s advice three times”
• B Ugetsu Monogatari , story 5, "Buppōsō"
• C Kakine-gusa, episode 4, "Ariwara no Narihira entrusts his claim of innocence to Bunkai"
In story A, Emperor Godaigo and Madenokōji Fujifusa discuss the waka poem about Nigemizu which is said to be on the road to the eastern provinces (Azuma-ji). Later, Fujifusa went to Musashino and learned the true identity of the "run-away water”.
In story B, a samurai and Jōha discuss a waka poem about Tama River in the depth of Mt.Kōya attributed to Kōbō Daishi. Jōha argues that the introduction (kotobagaki) to this waka poem in the Fūgawakashū was erroneous.
In C, the spirit of Ariwara no Narihira explains the true meaning of his own waka poem about Tatsutagawa, which differs from the conventional interpretation of the poem.
Paper short abstract:
Using the example of the Ōgiawase (扇合) and Jūban Mushiawase（十番虫合） revived along the Sumida River in Edo in the late 18th century, I will show that the Sumida River functioned as a place that reminded people of the capital of Kyōto evoking the elegance (雅) of the imperial court.
Paper long abstract:
In the Edo period, while peace and tranquility prevailed without wars, samurai along with townspeople played an active role in the world of elegance and culture in the latter half of the 18th century. The Sumida River Ōgiawase (角田川扇合) of 1779 and the Jūban Mushiawase (十番虫合) of 1782, both backed by meticulous research, were attempts to recreate in the city of Edo the tradition of monoawase from the court in the Heian period (794-1185). The attendees were a diverse array of people: Daimyō, Hatamoto and other shogunate vassals, mothers and wives of samurai, shogunate merchants and their wives, doctors, priests, incense masters, calligraphers, tea masters, booksellers, prostitutes of Shin-Yoshiwara, mistresses of brothels, and so on. They were attracted to the elegance of the classical imperial court and attempted the revival of monoawase in 18th-century Edo in order to create an authentic experience of this elegant world. They chose a “place overlooking the Sumida River” as the site for the revival of monoawase. In the Ise Monogatari (伊勢物語), a man accompanying Ariwara no Narihira composed the well-known poem there: "Oh capital bird/ if you are true to your name/ you will know tell me/ if the one whom I love/ is still in this world of partings” (Rodd/Henkenius). In the Nō play Sumida River Umewakamaru, son of the court noble Yoshida Korefusa, was kidnaped and brought to Edo, and he died of illness at the Sumida River. For the people of 18th century Edo, the Sumida River functioned as a place that reminded them of the capital of Kyōto, a famous spot that evoked the miyabi of the imperial court. Taking as examples the Ōgiawase and Jūban Mushiawase, this presentation reveals the evocative power of the Sumida River in Edo, from the latter half of the 18th through the 19th century.