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UID:394@harvard-yenching.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250403T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250403T130000
DTSTAMP:20250226T182838Z
URL:https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/the-art-of-seeing-flowers-expl
 oring-the-lexical-landscape-of-early-modern-japanese-poetry/
SUMMARY:The Art of Seeing Flowers: Exploring the Lexical Landscape of Early
  Modern Japanese Poetry
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies\
 n\nThe emergence of haikai 俳諧 (popular linked verse) in early 17th-cen
 tury Japan opened the door to poetry of the common people. The earliest wo
 rks of this genre are known as kohaikai 古俳諧 (old popular linked vers
 e)\, which flourished until the mid-1680s. Kohaikai serves as a treasure t
 rove of everyday expressions\, with the links between its verses relying o
 n word associations that reflect the common understandings of its time. De
 spite its cultural value\, however\, it has received limited scholarly att
 ention\, mainly due to the prevailing literary historical perspective that
  regards the later Bashō-style haikai as the pinnacle of literary achieve
 ment. This talk reexamines the literary significance of kohaikai through c
 lose reading analyses based on foundational research in the field. My stud
 y begins by exploring the challenges of understanding popular Japanese per
 ception of the West in the 17th century due to a lack of surviving documen
 tation. It then traces the historical transformation of the motif of sunba
 thing (hinataboko) as a case study of how the foreign influences and forgo
 tten nuances contained within an ordinary word can illuminate broader ways
  of thinking at the time. Through such analyses\, this study argues that k
 ohaikai can offer a window into the worldview of early modern Japan and co
 ntribute to the study of literary and cultural history.
CATEGORIES:Visiting Scholar Talks
LOCATION:Common Room (#136)\, 2 Divinity Avenue\, Cambridge\, MA\, United S
 tates
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