Brief descriptions by Keene (Japanese Literature/Columbia; World
Within Walls, 1976) of more than half-a-hundred Japanese diaries
dating from the Heian Period to the opening of Japan to the West in
1853. Appearing originally as a series of articles in the newspaper
Asahi Shimbun, these essays explore an aspect of Japanese writing
little known to most Western readers - although many will be
familiar with a few of the writers found here: Lady Murasaki, whose
The Tale of Genji is often regarded as the world's first novel, and
Basho, the preeminent poet of the spare and elegant poetic form,
the haiku. With entries by scores of less-well-known writers too,
Keene's compilation is varied and frequently delightful. Details of
domestic life are described, as well as the seductions of the
Imperial courts, and travel journals abound; to all, Keene brings
his usual expertise and clarity as he fills in the backgrounds. He
points out, for example, that in the early years it was women who
were the keepers of these personal accounts; their writings were
more subjective than those of the male authors who followed. He
also sheds light on the traditional Japanese attitude toward
visiting renowned natural sights, pointing out that most of the
authors of these travel journals were more interested in reliving
the emotional reactions of previous visitors than in producing
original insights of their own. A valuable overview of a minor
Japanese form and one likely to stimulate readers to explore the
works themselves in greater detail. (Kirkus Reviews)
Donald Keene, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as "the
century's leading expert on Japanese literature," presents here a
collection of premodern Japanese diaries that is both a literary
history of this genre and a source of insight into Japanese life of
the last thousand years. Ranging from objective to confessional,
selections such as "The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu" and "Diaries
of Seventeenth-Century Courtiers" offer unparalleled glimpses into
the lives of diverse writers from the Kamakura dynastic period to
the Tokugawa period. Illuminating the hidden and largely unknown
worlds of imperial courts, Buddhist monasteries, country inns, and
merchants' houses, Travelers of a Hundred Ages is an intimate
account of the diarists' lives and a testimony to the struggles and
advances of Japanese culture.
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