| NOTA |
()(The Japanese ballad-drama, or Lkoowaka [Ká]L, is a legacy of the heroic age. It recounts the exploits of samurai warriors during the epic struggle between the Genji and Heike clans some eight centuries ago. In the sixteenth century the LkoowakaL rivaled even the LnooL drama in the esteem of the military aristocracy, but it declined thereafter and for a long time was believed to have died out completely. At the beginning of the current century, however, its survival in a single isolated hamlet was discovered. In the present volume Professor Araki provides a detailed historical account of the ballad-drama and offers the first stylistic analysis and explication of the texts to be published in any language. The book contains two parts.One describes the LkoowakaL as a performing art and discusses the various influences --LnooL,LgagakuL, and so forth-- discernible within it. Of perhaps more general interest is the second part, which presents synopses of the plots of fifty ballad-dramas and the complete texts of two of them. Dr. ArakiLs rendering of LAtsumoriL has been acclaimed a major achievement in English translation from the Far Eastern literatures.@James T. Araki, born in Salt Lake City, Utah, studied Japanese intensively while in the U.S. Army. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and is now Professor of Japanese Literature at the University of Hawaii. Among his publications is the translation of Yasushi InoueLs LThe Roof Tile of TempyooL.) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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