The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry: Translation and Form

Scott Mehl

Published by Cornell University Press 2021

The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry

Translation and Form

Scott Mehl

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501761195

Overview
Contents

About this book

In The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry, Scott Mehl analyzes the complex response of Meiji-era Japanese poets and readers to the challenge introduced by European verse and the resulting crisis in Japanese poetry. Amidst fierce competition for literary prestige on the national and international stage, poets and critics at the time recognized that the character of Japanese poetic culture was undergoing a fundamental transformation, and the stakes were high: the future of modern Japanese verse.

Mehl documents the creation of new Japanese poetic forms, tracing the first invention of Japanese free verse and its subsequent disappearance. He examines the impact of the acclaimed and reviled shintaishi, a new poetic form invented for translating European-language verse and eventually supplanted by the reintroduction of free verse as a Western import. The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry draws on materials written in German, Spanish, English, and French, recreating the global poetry culture within which the most ambitious Meiji-era Japanese poets vied for position.

Author / Editor information

Scott Mehl is Assistant Professor of Japanese at Colgate University.

Reviews

Haun Saussy, University of Chicago, author of Translation as Citation:

Erudite and engaging, The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry is free from jargon and obfuscation, without shying away from complex and technical questions. Beyond that, Scott Mehl perceptively addresses a universal problem in literary history: How is innovation recognized and when does it become a permanent part of the cultural landscape?

Jeffrey Angles, Western Michigan University, translator of Forest of Eyes:

The Ends of Meter in Modern Japanese Poetry is a fresh, much-needed look at the development of modern Japanese poetry. Mehl explores the interplay of practice and theory, of experimentation and tradition, and of East and West in the pursuit of poetic newness, providing an accessible path through an extraordinarily complex subject.

Valuable for those interested in world literature as well as Japanese poetry and Asian literature more generally.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Note on Transliteration and Personal Names Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Introduction: Making Forms New, Making New Forms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. New Styles of Criticism for a New Style of Poetry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2. “This Dead Form, Begone”: The Shi of Kitamura Tōkoku and the Debate over Meter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
3. A Disaster Averted: Masaoka Shiki and the Value of Brevity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
4. Difficulty in Poetry: Kanbara Ariake and the Experimenters in Prosody Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
5. Kawaji Ryūkō and the New Poetry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
Epilogue: A Form to Express Anything Whatsoever Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
Appendix A. Ariake’s Meters Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Appendix B. Ariake’s Stanza Forms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Appendix C. A Word about Terminology: syllable vs. mora vs. moji Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 258
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 5
- Images: 5
- Other: 5 b&w halftones
Keywords: Meiji-era Japanese poets; shintaishi; modern Japanese free-verse poetry; nineteenth-century Japanese translations of European poetry; types of japanese poetry

eBook

Published: January 15, 2022
ISBN: 9781501761195