How dark is my flower : Yosano Akiko and the invention of romantic love / Leith Morton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morton, Leith, author.

Series:

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; 98.

Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies ; 98

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yosano, Akiko, 1878-1942--History and criticism.

Yosano, Akiko.

Yosano, Tekkan, 1873-1935--Friends and associates.

Yosano, Tekkan.

Yamakawa, Tomiko, 1879-1909--Friends and associates.

Yamakawa, Tomiko.

Love--Japan--20th century--Poetry.

Love.

Waka--Women authors--20th century.

Waka.

Modernism (Literature)--Japan--History--20th century.

Modernism (Literature).

Women poets, Japanese--20th century--Biography.

Women poets, Japanese.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (403 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Yosano Akiko and the invention of romantic love

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2023.

Summary:

The poetry of Yosano Akiko covers all the many and varied aspects of the experience of love--from early romantic encounters between the lover and beloved to the intimate pleasures of mutual infatuation and then true love. The journey outlined in Akiko's verse also grapples with jealousy and unrequited passion, as Akiko's poem-narrative treats the rivalry between herself and her best friend, the poet Yamakawa Tomiko, for the affection of the dashing young literary lion, Yosano Tekkan, who later became Akiko's husband. Thus, How Dark Is My Flower: Yosano Akiko and the Invention of Romantic Love tells a number of stories: a real-life romance unfolds in the poetry of these three poets examined in the book, as well as the story of the journey from romanticism to modernism undertaken by early 20th century Japanese poetry. How Dark Is My Flower emphasizes the astonishing innovations in diction and style, not to mention content, in Akiko's work that transformed the tanka genre from a hidebound and conservative mode of verse to something much more daring and modern. This book pays particular attention to poetry, particularly the tanka genre, in the evolution of modernism in Japanese literature and breaks new ground in the study of modern Japanese literature by examining the invention and evolution of the concept of romantic love.

Contents:

Introduction

Romantic love in 'The Sun', 1895-1905

Romantic love in the 'Woman's Magazine', 1897-1904

The birth of the modern: Yosano Akiko and Tekkan's verse revolution

Inventing modernist poetry: Yosano Akiko's rewriting of tradition

Romantic love in 'Myōjō' exchange verse

Love as literary construct: Erotic tropes in the poetry of Yosano Akiko, Tekkan, and Yamakawa Tomiko

Rewriting texts as text: A study of the 'white lily' chapter of 'Tangled Hair'

'Tangled Hair', modernity, and Kansai culture

The poetics of naturalism: Yosano Akiko and motherhood

The canonicity of 'Tangled Hair'.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 361-389) and index.

British Library not licensed to copy 0.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472220922

0472220926