Writing and renunciation in medieval Japan : the works of the poet-priest Kamo no Chomei / Rajyashree Pandey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pandey, Rajyashree, 1953- author.

Series:

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; Number 21.

Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies ; Number 21

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kamo, Chōmei, 1153?-1216?--Criticism and interpretation.

Kamo, Chōmei.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 197 p.)

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan, Center for Japanese Studies, [1998]

Summary:

This is the first monograph-length study in English of Kamo no Chomei, one of the most important literary figures of medieval Japan. Drawing upon a wide range of writings in a variety of genres from the Heian and Kamakura periods, Pandey focuses on the terms kyogen kigo (wild words and fancy phrases), shoji soku nehan (samsara is nirvana), hoben (expedient means), and suki (single-minded devotion to an art). She shows how these terms deployed by writers in an attempt to reconcile literary and artistic activities with a commitment to Buddhism. By locating Chomei within this broad context, the book offers an original reading of his texts, while at the same time casting a light upon intellectual preoccupations that were central to the times.Writing and Renunciation in Medieval Japan is an important contribution to a growing body of work that challenges the rigid distinction between the religious and literary-a distinction that would have made little sense to medieval writers, many of whom were poets as well as priests-and sheds light on the particular ways in which a religio-aesthetic tradition came to be articulated in medieval Japan. Through an examination of records left by Chomei's contemporaries, the book also traces the life of Chomei, particularly his activities as a court poet and the circumstances that led to his taking the tonsure.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-192) and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780939512867

0939512866

OCLC:

1184509155

Publisher Number:

https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.18546