Two of Japanese most famous poets and authors of their time, Ki no Tsurayuki and Matsuo Bashou, are still important today for those same achievements. Both men wrote two well-known travel journals, and although they are labeled with the same title as “travel journal”, the two are very different. Ki no Tsurayuki wrote “Tosa Nikki,” around 936 in the Heian Period, and Matsuo Bashou, or simply Bashou, wrote “Oku no Hosomichi,” in 1689 in the Edo Period. The Heian Period seems more traditional whereas the Edo Period is the opening of modernization in Japan. With just this note, the differences in both journals would seem to be a bit more obvious. Some are indeed straight forward, but there are some differences that are either difficult to point out, or hard to put into words, especially for a novice such as myself.
The introduction of the “Tosa Nikki,” contains two sentences, “Diaries are things written by men, I am told. Nevertheless I am writing one to see what a woman can do.” This already tells the readers that they will be reading something written in the style of a diary, and that it’s being told from a woman’s point of view. The author, Ki no Tsurayuki, is indeed a man, and by his telling it from another point of view, especially one of another gender, seems to make it more of a fictional diary. But because the story was written to tell of the trip the writer took alongside the governor, who was Ki no Tsurayuki himself, it could still be true, with a few slight twists to make it more interesting. And after his very short introduction, he continues the story as what one would consider a typical diary, giving the date, represented as days and moons, and entries of various sizes.
Bashou’s “Oku no Hosomichi,” his whole journal...
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...riods in his “Oku no Hosomichi.” The elegance that was around during the Heian Period was changed, and now poetry could also include a bit of entertaining humor. It was portrayed well in Bashou’s work, the combination of the high position of literature and his own simplicity that he had as a monk. For those reasons I enjoyed his work rather than the “Tosa Nikki.” But, the underlying meaning in both are still difficult for me to locate, since I’m still technically a novice at Japanese literature, so there could be so many other differences that set these two famous authors apart.
Works Cited
Anthology of Japanese Literature. 'Ed' or 'Comp' . Donald Keene. New York: Grove Press, 1955. Print.
Malgorzata, Citko. "Oku no Hosomichi." n. pag. Web. 19 Apr 2011. .
Both authors Okita and Cisneros use the setting, the dialogue, and the character of their individual stories to develop the theme that there are stereotypes of against non-white Americans. Even though the both main characters are of different races, one girl being asian american and the other girl being mexican american, both stories girls show the unfair treatment of these characters because of their races. This mistreatment is is shown in very subtle way, but is definitely made clear through both stories.
Beasley, W. G. The Japanese experience: a short history of Japan. Los Angeles: Berkeley, 1999.
Although wildly different in subject matter and style, Kawabata’s Beauty and Sadness and Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World both show how Japan has been internationalized as well as how it has remained traditional. Kawabata’s novel is traditional and acceptable, much like the haiku poetry he imitates, but has a thread of rebelliousness and modernity running through the web that binds the characters together. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is devastatingly modern, and yet has a similar but opposite undertone of old Japan, or at least a nostalgia for old Japan. In both novels a more international culture has taken root in Japan, and it seems that the characters both embrace and run from the implications of a globalized, hybridized culture.
When it comes to contrasting Toshio Shibata and Robert Adams, there are inherent differences between their work. Before outlining how their photography differentiates, it is first important to understand how their individual background and photographic journey varies.
... (1730-1801) of the 18th century did not have literary criteria in the foreground of his studies. He was seeking the origin of the pure Japanese spirit, which had not been contaminated yet by various elements of continental civilization. Motoori Norinaga, in his monumental commentaries titled the Kojikiden, brought the Kojiki back from the shadows of history. He explicated it so intelligibly and made it into something for the Japanese to be proud of. But he did not seek literary excitement in the Kojiki. Neither did he seek examples of poetry in the Kojiki or the Nihon Shoki in both of which rustic songs sometimes appear. For him, the Kojiki was something that spoke the language of the gods and provided the truth about the Age of the Gods and beginnings of the Human Age. His text for the Kojiki is on the level of faith. His work was of the order of mystic erudition.
The era in which The Pillow Book was written was very unique. Almost all the documents that we have from Japan during this era were written by women. This was rare during 11th century, since women were usually illiterate and uneducated. Through the use of imagery, metaphors, and short sentences, Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book demonstrates the rules of Japan's society and gives the audience an insight on the thoughts and actions of the aristocracy, which, in turn, allows us to study and understand the actions of this past society.
Although written over 600 years apart from each other, Ki no Tsurayuki’s fictionalized depiction of his rough voyage to Kyoto, Tosa Nikki, has many similar qualities to Matsuo Bashō’s Oku no Hosomichi. Their focus on nature and a general journey, whether or not there is a set goal, creates a similar progression in both accounts based on actual events.
Shirane, Haruo. Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
...kotoba or kokoro. These qualities mentioned in the Kana Preface by Ki no Tsurayuki is a top down decision of political shaping of Japan as well as his personal aesthetic preferences that he though Chinese poetry was lacking. However when a society decides on literary canons, they are making literary traditions they are able to identify with. The roles and significance of the canon, which comes from the top down decision making of nobles, still depends on works of merit that survive the tribulations that may face it in the future.
I usually don't read or focus on different styles of writing. I think the fear of indifference and confusion makes me not want to explore but also my patience isn't there. Reading these two essays it was really interesting seeing the contrast of personality and different style types of writing. I enjoyed the humor that Lamott showed but I also liked how detailed and clever Didion was. Didion talks about how much the effect writers have on readers while Lamott talks about how much effect the readers have on the writers. Lamott shows shes almost scared for anyone(reader) to read her first drafts but Didion describes how the writers have a “tactic of a secret bully” on the readers mind. After reading this it made me realize my writing is important
...el as well as diary literature that was written in Japan later on, including Oku no hosomichi. And with Basho, the beginning of a different approach to a style of writing that mixed both the classical culture of Japanese poetry, like in Tosa nikki, and the new popular cultures, of haikai especially, during his time.
Hooker, Richard. "The Flowering of Japanese Literature." wsu.edu. N.p., 6 June 1999. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. .
Shirane Haruo. et al. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900. New York: Colombia University Press, 2002. Print.
The style of writing in both of these pieces have a big impact on the perspective of the audience. In one story it is written in a style that allows the reader to establish a closer connection with the character while in the other story it adds more emotion to the story.
Women have a different way of viewing the world, because of the culture not the nature. They tend to write diaries, autobiographies, poetry…because the cultural context in which they write asks for that kind of literature .