Modern Japanese Poetry

4 credits · Undergraduate

“In order to give birth to a poem,” wrote Tamura Ryūichi, a leading member of the postwar group Arechi (Wasteland), in 1956, “we must kill those we love/that is the only way to resurrect the dead.” This course will survey modern Japanese poetry’s earnest efforts toward creation and resurrection – spanning a dynamic and diverse body of writing from the late Meiji era through mid-twentieth century – by attending to questions of poetic form, technique, and content within the corresponding sociohistorical context. Reading all works in Japanese, students will train their sights on an array of literary styles, techniques, and topoi. All readings will be made available in pdf form on our bCourses site.