| NOTA |
(★)(1.These critical essays, guideposts through ten centuries of cultural history, chart the highlights of Japanese literary art. From the shining world of the eleventh century to the present day, from poetry and theatre to the modern psychological novel, Professor Keene´s studies are an illuminated map of the cultural surroundings in which Japanese literature has flourished. Suggestion, irregularity, simplicity and perishability --the basic aesthetic goals towards which the artists of Japan have traditionally aspired set the theme for this collection. So pervasive are these ideals that the author is able to predict that they ´will find their outlet in media yet undiscovered and maintain their distinctive existence.´ The spontaneous lyricism of Japanese poetry exemplifies these ideals best, and Professor Keene´s essays on Teitoku, the poet who founded haiku ; Basho, the acknowledged master of this form ; and Takuboku, who worked for the revival of poetic tradition under foreign influences --these pieces are remarkable for the depth of their critical insight and sensitivity. Besides traditional ideals, Japanese writers have concerned themselves with those universal questions that inevitably follow art. During the second world war, when the lyrics of the human heart were drowned in the blare of official propaganda, many writers were confronted with the conflict between art and politics. Professor Keene´s fascinating account of widespread silence in the face of tyranny has special relevance today as artists come more and more to take sides in political disputes. Throughout Japan´s modern period the novel has been the most important literary genre. Included here are essays about three of Japan´s finest novelists : Tanizaki Junichiro, Dazai Osamu, and Mishima Yukio. The essay on Mishima, a masterpiece of literary criticism, was written especially for this collection. It sets in high relief the art and development of the man who dazzled Japanese readers with the richness of his imagination and style. Writing at the time of Mishima´s violent death, Professor Keene concludes that his close friend´s artistic promise had been fulfilled, a judgment that echoes a statement made by Mishima about his last novel,´The Sea of Fertility´: ´I´ve written my entire self into this novel, and when it´s finished there will be nothing left but to die.´ 2.The Author : A native of New York, Donald Keene is a graduate of Columbia University, where he received a Ph.D. in 1949. He was Lecturer in Japanese at Cambridge University from 1949 to 1953. Mr. Keene spent several years in Japan studying the country´s literature and theatre. His original scholarship and excellent translations have established him as a leading authority in this field. Among his outstanding publications are ´Japanese Literature : an Introduction for Western Readers´,´Anthology of Japanese Literature [two volumes]´,´Living Japan´, and ´Major Plays of Chikamatsu.´ In 1962, he was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Prize for his important role in introducing Japanese literature to the Western world. Mr. Keene is currently Professor of Japanese at Columbia University.) |
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