LPW (Japanese Lit.)

Question 1

• Oral literature is mostly poetry
• Heavily influenced by cultural contact with China

Answer 1

japanese literature

Question 2

Often considered the world’s first novel/psychological novel

Answer 2

the tale of genji by murasaki shikibu

Question 2

Creation of the world, gods and goddesses, facts about ancient Japan

Answer 2

kojiki

Question 2

History of Japan in poetry and influence of China

Answer 2

nihongi

Question 2

• An important source book for ceremonies, customs, divination, and magical practices of ancient Japan.
• It includes myths, legends, and historical accounts of the imperial court from the earliest days of its creation up to the reign of Empress Suiko (628).
• It was written using Chinese characters to represent Japanese sounds.

Answer 2

kojiki

Question 2

a kabuki dramatist, known as the Japan’s Shakespeare

Answer 2

chikamatsu monzaemon

Question 2

• Written in Chinese, reflects the influence of Chinese civilization on Japan.
• Consists of 30 chapters. The first part deals with many myths and legends of ancient Japan and is an important source for Shintō thought. The later chapters, are historically more accurate and contain records of several of the politically powerful clans as well as of the imperial family. Among the events described are the introduction of Buddhism and the Taika reforms of the 7th century.

Answer 2

nihongi

Question 2

Includes anecdotes, character sketches, lists, diary entries, conversations, poetry, etc

Answer 2

the pillow book by sei shonagon

Question 2

is a personalised account of life at the Japanese court by Sei Shonagon which she completed c. 1002 CE during the Heian Period. The book is full of humorous observations (okashi) written in the style of a diary, an approach known as zuihitsu-style (‘rambling’

Answer 2

the pillow book

Question 2

oldest collection of Japanese poetry

Answer 2

manyoshu

Question 2

Many civil wars led to the development of a warrior class, war tales, and histories (insights into life and death, simple lifestyles, and Seppuku)

Answer 2

medieval literature

Question 2

• Contains poems which were all written in the Japanese of that time, i.e. using Chinese characters phonetically.
• Consists of 4,496 poems organised into 20 books, the vast majority being in the tanka style, that is each poem has precisely 31 syllables in five lines (5+7+5+7+7).
• The poems come in three broad thematic categories; zoka (miscellaneous), somon (mutual inquiries or love poems), and banka (elegies).

Answer 2

manyoshu

Question 2

is an absorbing introduction to the culture of the aristocracy in early Heian Japan—its forms of entertainment, its manner of dress, its daily life, and its moral code.

Answer 2

the tale of genji

Question 2

an epic account of the struggle between two clans for control of Japan at the end of the twelfth century.

Answer 2

tale of the heike

Question 2

• The Tokugawa Period
• The capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Edo (modern Tokyo)
• Scholarly work continued to be published in Chinese
• Many genres of literature made their debut helped by a rising literacy rate among the growing population of townspeople, as well as the development of lending libraries

Answer 2

edo period

Question 3

• Rejects the traditional assumption that language can accurately represent reality.
• Deconstructionists try to show how the text “deconstructs” how it can be broken down.
• Regards language as a fundamentally unstable medium- because literature is made up of words, literature possesses no fixed, single meaning.

Answer 3

deconstructionist criticism

Question 3

• The re-opening of Japan to the West, and a period of rapid industrialization
• European literature brought free verse into the poetic repertoire. It became widely used for longer works embodying new intellectual themes.
• Prose writers and dramatists struggled with a whole galaxy of new ideas and artistic schools, but novelists were the first to assimilate some of these concepts successfully

Answer 3

meiji period

Question 3

17 syllable poem in three lines (575)

Answer 3

haiku

Question 3

31 syllable poem in five lines (57577)

Answer 3

tanka

Question 3

a puppet or doll play wherein dolls are life-like

Answer 3

joruri

Question 3

a form of waka consisting of alternating lines of five and seven syllables and ending with an extra line of seven syllables. The total length of the poem is indefinite.

Answer 3

choka

Question 3

National theater, bare stage, actors wearing masks, written in a highly poetic prose

Answer 3

noh play

Question 3

using elaborate and colorful costume and sets

Answer 3

kabuki