Jack Kerouac and the traditions of classic and modern haiku / Yoshinobu Hakutani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hakutani, Yoshinobu, 1935- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969--Criticism and interpretation.

Kerouac, Jack.

Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969.

Haiku, American--History and criticism.

Haiku, American.

Haiku, American--Buddhist influences.

Buddhism in literature.

Zen Buddhism in literature.

Confucianism in literature.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 193 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2019]

Summary:

Jack Kerouac and the Traditions of Classic and Modern Haiku is a reading of the haiku collected in Jack Kerouac's Book of Haikus, edited by Regina Weinreich, (2003), one of the two largest collections of English haiku. "Above all," Kerouac wrote in his journal, "a Haiku must be very simple and free of all poetic trickery and makes a little picture and yet be as airy and graceful as a Vivaldi Pastorella." Before trying his hand at composing haiku, Kerouac learned, as did Wright, the theory and technique of haiku from R. H. Blyth, the most influential haiku scholar and critic. Most of Kerouac's haiku reflect eastern philosophies-Confucianism, Buddhist ontology, and Zen-, as do classic haiku. A son of devout French Canadian Catholic parents, the young Kerouac was impressed with Christian doctrine, but later was inspired by Buddhism. In his haiku Kerouc conflates Christian doctrine of mercy with that of Buddhism. Classic haiku taught Kerouac that not only must human beings treat their fellow human beings with respect and compassion, but they must also treat nonhuman beings such as animals, insects, plants, and flowers as their equals. Many of Kerouac's haiku can be read as modern haiku for the technique of beat poetics he applied. All in all, Kerouac's haiku express the worldview that human beings are not at the center of the universe.

Contents:

Part I. History and criticism

The genesis and development of haiku in Japan

Basho and classic haiku tradition

Yone Noguchi and modernist haiku poetics

Ezra Pound, imagism, and haiku

Haiku in English and haiku criticism in America

Kerouac's haiku and classic haiku poetics

Kerouac's haiku and Beat poetics

Kerouac's haiku and One the Road

Kerouac's haiku and The Dharma Bums

Part II. Selected haiku by Jack Kerouac

List of Kerouac's haiku from Book of Haikus.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Other Format:

Ebook version :

ISBN:

1498558275

9781498558273

OCLC:

1053568051