EALL 271 1 27 17 - Man’yoshu vs. Kokinshu Discussion PDF

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Man’yoshu vs. Kokinshu Discussion...

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Friday, January 27, 2017

EALL 271 Announcements

- For those who have Paper #1 due Monday: • The due date has now been pushed back to Wednesday • Paper is supposed to be analytical and will show professor your thinking process and thoughts

• Doesn’t want you to tell her what the poem says (she knows what is says), wants to know what you think it means; what you think the point of the poem is; if you have some sort of background information/personal association with the poem, then you can write about those things

• If you make a personal association, try to explain it in a way that anyone can understand

- Try to be humble, try to consider other possibilities for the poem’s meaning • Ex: She said something like: A lot of people in Japan think that they know everything just because they were born in Japan, but even if you were born in Japan, it doesn't mean you know everything about Japan better than others

- Foreigners may have the advantage because we can see different perspectives, we can analyze it from the outside

• Up to you whether you want to operate in binaries (comparative paper), the less mainstream, the better

• You can do anything with the paper, but have to be academic about it (use examples, validate own opinion, or use sources to back up your claims)

• Can email notes/first draft to help you before you submit - If have questions, email or talk to the Professor Homework

- HW that was given today will be due next Friday: • Pick a poem that we didn’t do from the “Kokinshu: First Few Poems” or the “Kokinshu (Keene Anthology) Reading” (pg. 77) and analyze it

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Friday, January 27, 2017

Today— Man’yoshu vs. Kokinshu

- Man’yoshu: • No preface • Has a larger number of Choka poems (long poems) • More than 4,000 poems • Written in Man’yogana • Repetition often used • Often more expressive, poems were private things • Written sometime around 759(?)/Nara Period • Famous compiler: Otomo no Yakumochi - Kokinshu: • Has 2 prefaces - 1 Japanese, 1 Chinese • Has a clear structure - arranges poems by topic • Mostly tanka and waka poems • About 1,111 poems • Written sometime around 905(?)/Heian Period • Represents the noble class • Famous compiler: Ki no Tsurayuki • Includes critiques of other poems (poems were now considered high art) - Both: • Sometimes political (about the Emperor/system)

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Brief Background of Eras

- Man’yoshu was written during the Nara period, while the Kokinshu was written during the Heian Period.

• Heian (Period): means “peace”/is known for its peace - Sometime after the Nara period, the capital was moved from Nara prefecture over to Kyoto prefecture. What happens when you move the capital to somewhere else?

• Possibly had changes in language (different dialects, classical vs. middle Japanese), currency (what you owe and who serves you), culture, food/amount of food your family gets

- How were the streets formed? What were they called? • The street names were numbered going outward from the imperial palace • The closer you lived to the palace, the more important you were

Kokinshu first few poems—

- 1. Ariwara Motokata (“Springtime has arrived…”) • What is it about? - The calendar says that Spring has arrived (new year), but snow still lingers (old year)

- Author gives feeling of elegant confusion and asks: Are we in the old year or are we in the new year?

• What message does it send? - Things are not always as expected. You can’t plan life, can’t plan nature, life is naturally confusing, nature works on its own

- 2. Ki no Tsurayuki (“On this first spring day…”) • What is it about?

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Friday, January 27, 2017

- Someone is possibly kneeling by a river/stream of melting snow on the first day of Spring and scoops water from it maybe to drink it or wash his face

• What message does it send? - Possibly symbolizes appreciation for Spring/nature/new life/new relationships/ the reconciliation of an old relationship

- He is being humble and letting himself get over certain things - 4. Nijo Empress (“Springtime has arrived…warbler’s frozen teardrops…”) • What is it about? - Spring has arrived, but there’s still a lot of snow. The warbler is the first sign/bird of Spring, and since its frozen teardrops are now melting, it symbolizes new life

- Bird also maybe symbolizes a woman, who’s frozen tears or heart are melting, which signifies that she’s letting go of something that happened in her past

- Possibly also symbolizes that people are happy now with the new regime(?) - 5. Anonymous (“O warbler perching…”) • What is it about? - Basically the same thing as the previous poems: snow is melting, spring has arrived

- 8. Fun’ya no Yasuhide (“Rare is the fortune…”) • What is it about? - Talking about how the Empress invited someone who has gotten old on the first day of Spring to pay him respects as a poet/to pay tribute to him

- She recognizes him/his efforts, so he is very touched because he did something/many things for the Imperial system

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