Travelers of a Hundred Ages - The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries (Paperback, Revised)

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.

General

Imprint:	Columbia University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	May 1999
First published:	May 1999
Authors:	Donald Keene
Dimensions:	229 x 155 x 24mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	480
Edition:	Revised
ISBN-13:	978-0-231-11437-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Collections & anthologies of various literary forms Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Essays, journals, letters & other prose works > General
LSN:	0-231-11437-0
Barcode:	9780231114370

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