Japanese Literature

JAPANESE LITERATURE  Man’yoshu (Collection of Myriad
leaves)
FACTS ABOUT JAPAN
The oldest collection of Japanese poetry
 Nippon- “Land of the Rising Sun”
collected in the year 800.
JAPANESE WRITING SYSTEM
 Genji Monogatari (The tale Genji)
KANJI- ideographs from Chinese characters
Written by the court lady named MuraSaki is
KANA- a pair of syllabaries, consisting of considered the pre-eminent masterpiece of
heian fiction.
Hiragana- used for native Japanese words and
( The Tale of GenjiWritten by Japanese
Katakana- used for foreign loanwords and
writer MurasakiShikibu in the 11th
sometimes to replace kanji or Hiragana
century, isgenerally regarded as the
foremphasis.
earliestnovel in any culture and as
The Period of Japanese Literature thegreatest masterpiece of
Japaneseliterature. In this scene from the
 Ancient Literature
novel,Prince Genji is visiting with
 Classical Literature
hisfavorite wife, Murasaki, whilewatching
 Medieval Literature
his housemaids, whom he hassent outside
 Modern Literature
o Edo Period to build a snowman. Thenovel is
o Meiji Period remarkable for its detaileddepiction of the
o Post-War Japan refined culture ofHeian-period Japan.)
o Contemporary Literature
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
ANCIENT LITERATURE
 Japan experienced many civil wars
 Kojiki- (Records of Ancient Matter) which led to the development of a
warrior class, and subsequent war tales,
relates to the creation of the world, describe histories, and related stories.
the gods and goddess of the mythological  Work from this period is notable for its
period insights into life and death, simple
lifestyles, and Seppuku
 Nihonggi- (Chronicles of Japan)
 Tale of the Heike, an epic account of the
tells the history of Japan in poetry . struggle between two clans for control
of Japan at the end of the twelfth
CLASSICAL LITERATURE century.
The Heian Period, referred to as the golden era
of Japanese art and literature.
earlier novel's preoccupation with the
narrator's consciousness
EDO PERIOD
 In Japanese fiction, plot development
 The Tokugawa Period is commonly and action have often been of
referred to as the Edo Period. The secondary interest to emotional issues.
capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to
Japanese Drama
Edo (modern Tokyo)
 Chikamatsu Monzaemon- a kabuki  Noh play
dramatist, known as the Japan's the national theatre of Japan, which
Shakespeare. was originally reserved for the nobility.
Legend says that the Noh dance was
MEIJI PERIOD invented by the gods
 The Meiji period marks the re-opening  Joruri play
of Japan to the West, and a period of a puppet play or doll theatre wherein
rapid industrialization. the dolls are beautifully made and life-
 Young Japanese prose writers and like in size.
dramatists struggled with a whole  Kabuki
galaxy of new ideas and artistic schools, the play for the masses. It is less
but novelists were the first to assimilate intellectual and more realistic, even
some of these concepts successfully. sensational.
 War-time Japan saw the début of Japanese Poetry
several authors best known for the
beauty of their language and their tales  Tanka (5-7-5-7-7) It is a five line poem.
of love and sensuality. The first and third lines have five
 Kawabata Yasunari, for his narrative syllables each and the others seven,
mastery, which with great sensibility making a total of thirty- one syllables
expresses the essence of the Japanese per poem.
mind" became Japan's first winner of  Haiku (5-7-5) It is a seventeen-syllable
the Nobel Prize for Literature. poem of three lines arranged in lines of
five-seven-five.
Post-War and Contemporary Literature
 World War II, and Japan's defeat,

deeply influenced Japanese literature.
Many authors wrote stories of
disaffection, loss of purpose, and the
coping with defeat.
 Modern Japanese writers covered a
wide variety of subjects, one
particularly Japanese approach stressed
their subjects' inner lives, widening the

Japanese Literature

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JAPANESE LITERATURE  Man’yoshu (Collection of Myriad

 World War II, and Japan's defeat,

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