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summary of banning books
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summary of banning books
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“Appropriateness” and “standards” has always been a subjective topic through history. What in one era may be considered a fatal flaw may be considered the norm a few centuries later; sewing a scarlet “A” on the chest of every unmarried woman with child in America would have political and human rights groups up in arms. With literature, one only needs to look at the list of “Banned Books Throughout History” to see how attitudes shift over the years towards literature. Because of this often gradual shift, a pieces of literature that fall under the same genre may be drastically different from each other, such as Matsuo Bashō’s Oku no Hosomichi and Ki no Tsurayuki’s Tosa Nikki. While both fall under the “kiko” category of writing, the different times they were written in leads to a distinct style and theme separate from one another.
The way the respective journeys start are vastly different, not just due to the different time periods and purpose of both journeys, but the way the authors record them. In Oku no Hosomichi, Bashō notes that he is overcome by a seemingly god-given wanderlust, “the gods seemed to have possessed my soul and turned it inside out…so that it was impossible for me to stay idle at home (Bashō, n.d.).” He eagerly describes his preparations for the trip, from fixing his trousers to applying a strengthening salve on his legs. He comments on the things he packed and even notes the first steps he takes away from home. In Tosa Nikki however, the preparations are totally glossed over and instead the beginning of the kiko focuses on the parties and drunken festivities. It is hard to imagine that in light of a party as large as an ex-governor’s there would be so little preparation—even the elegant courtiers who...
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...bi of pines on mountains, or dwellings on Buddhist impermanence during a time of mappō. Tosa Nikki, the first great literary diary would become the basis upon which almost all future diaries were created. Oku no Hosomichi also used it as a base, but from there Bashō carefully crafted the work and made it his own.
Works Cited
1. Satō, H. Bashō's Narrow road: spring & autumn passages: two works. 1996 received from: http://books.google.com/books?id=Imn4gm7KomgC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=tosa+nikki+poetry&source=bl&ots=m8pmdbP4d8&sig=wm2PGV5a6s47grIHTYYeoabYAFE&hl=en&ei=Eg6qTcD7NpH6sAOLs5H5DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=tosa%20nikki%20poetry&f=false
2. Handout 8
3. http://www.vbtemple.org/glossary/nembutsu.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edo_period
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuo_Bash%C5%8D
Born on July 4, 1916, in Los Angeles, California, to the parents of Jun and Fumi Toguri, Iva Ikoku Toguri was an American citizen with Japanese heritage (Lerner 163; Tokyo1). Toguri and her three siblings were raised in a predominantly white neighborhood in Compton, California, where their father disapproved of them learning the Japanese language so they could better fit into American society. Toguri eventually went on to attend Compton Junior College after finishing high school and then transferred to University of California, Los Angeles where she graduated in 1941 with a zoology degree (Iva 1; Tokyo 1). Soon after college, Toguri left America to tend to an extremely ill aunt in Japan on July 5, 1941. Unfortunately, she only acquired a certificate of identification from the US State Department and not an actual passport. After six months, Toguri planned to return home on a ship on December 2 but missed it due to passport complications (Lerner 163; Tokyo1, 2).
The most basic premise of this chapter is that works that are categorized within the adaptation and/or appropriation genre are inherently political, simply by the nature of their production. In other words, it might be simpler to say that original works of literature, in the case of this discussion particularly those from the literary canon, are often products of the culture they are written within. The author cannot help but to exert their own ideological agenda upon the text, though it is a job left to the reader to locate and interpret the clues to the agenda that are left in between the lines. The development of an adaptation is an extension of that process. By reinterpreting a text, for the sake of making significant alteration to the
writings of The Diary. In Japan, it was also a rise of the warrior class and the samurai.
These two journals or kiko have basically the same ideology of telling the readers of their journey from one place to the other. The details within every stop they made, every scenery that they come across and the literature that were involved through their experiences. Both encountered ups and downs during their journey and saw much beautiful scenery as well. However, the key difference in the two journeys is that, in Oku no Hosomichi, seemed to have no particular destination of where to go, where as Tosa Nikki, and had a set destination for their journey to Kyoto. They both had religious components that reflected upon their journey. On Tosa Nikki, the religious aspects are focused very much on the worship side, while the Oku no Hosomichi showed self focused matters. Though there are many obvious differences such as the method of travel, but that is not what we are looking for. So how are these two literatures alike and how are they different? I believe that the main difference lies within the view of the writer and the way the journey is told.
How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?
The writer, Mattew C. Strecher argues the terms so-called, “pure” and “mass” literature. in his article, entitled “Purely Mass or Massively Pure? The Division Between ‘Pure’ and ‘Mass’” (1996) Actually, the title, “Purely Mass or Massively Pure?” intrigues me who has interested in the related question, what the difference between popular literature and pure literature is. Yet, the writer would rather use the term “mass” than “popular”. As the title makes an allusion, it’s not easy to define the terms mass/popular and pure literature. In fact, there is no a precise definition of those terms in both Western and Japanese literary world. According to Mattew however, in Japan, it is obvious the distinction between literature for the few and literature
Shirane, Harue, and Tomi Suzuki. Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identiy, and Japanese Literature. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 2000. eBook.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
Literature is constanting changing from different styles and different subjects. However, there are repeating themes/dualities that occur. These dualities including appearance/ reality, morality/immorality, and lightness/heaviness. By recognizing these dualities, readers can learn to reevaluate and deal with their own personal lives.
It can be said that in many cases, the job of the author is to reflect the values and norms of the society in which he or she lives. As we consider the new millennium, we see that much has changed in the way of societal norms including the aging of the baby boomers, and an increased awareness of religious, gender, and racial differences. Politically, citizens have become increasingly disenfranchised (Bill Clinton’s sexual escapades may have been one cause of this) and, America has positioned itself as a top world leader.
In addition, authors frequently lack originality and simply take the reader on all-too-familiar voyages into politics, morals, or religion. Successful writers are those who risk and go on to write about topics that many times others have been less willing to address. The product of these extraordinary efforts is compositions richly enhanced by human feelings and real problems that we encounter and relate to our everyday lives…thought-provoking discussions about religion, philosophy, or politics. These pioneering authors are not afraid to write about evil, the perverse aspects of man, or even sexuality… Their true voices have risen from behind the words taking shape in the minds of the readers. Few have done this, but in the 19th Century two remarkable Americans produced compositions of unequal quality. Their styles and the way they approach the reader are different from t...
Many significant novels have unfortunately been challenged/ banned at a certain point in time. Most of these literary classics face this because some contain sexual references, religious intolerance, and inappropriate language. Some cases books are being pulled off shelves because people believe that they were “tangibles of instruction” or the reason being was as a precaution towards a possible public attack which took effect in Tucson for the Mexican American Studies. (source:8) Another case is the Mozert v. Hawkins County Board of Education; Christian sewed the board because they believed that the required textbooks hurt their beliefs. (Source:8)
(Goldberg, par. 3). Every year on the last week of September there is the National Banned Books Week. It is an exciting time where there are special readings of banned books. It is also the times where the newspaper prints off the threats from the American Library Association to have the freedom to read. Last year on Banned Books week the ALA’s official magazine, American Libraries, ran a story headlined, “Book banning alive and well in the U.S.” What do books from the Twilight series, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Hunger Games have in common? They all have faced removal from library bookshelves in the United States within the past year. It is understandable why the Twilight series have been banned, because of the romance and make believe characters. Some parents caution their children who might read them and get their heads glued to the possibility of having a romance like that in the future. The reason of To Kill a Mockingbird being banned is racism and violence. It is a simply written book that many Junior High students can read, but only in high school are they able to read it. The popular Hunger Games series was banned form the graphic violence and it gave some kids nightmares. ( Piesyk, Par. 1) Some parent believes that violent books are the cause of all the violence that is happening in the world at this moment. With the parents complaining about the books that are available to the students, their words are what bring t...
Each culture carves its own notch in the world of literature. America had to create her own new world of literature and still was criticized for not being like the other countries. It seems that when something is different, it is outcast and criticized to a much larger extent than should be. This situation...
It is common in today's media-driven society to reach into the past for inspiration and ideas. A trend has developed where original works are transformed into other mediums. For example: books are turned into movies and/or plays, movies are turned into weekly sitcoms, and cartoons will spawn empires (Disney). These things happen so often that an audience rarely stops to question the level of authenticity that remains after these conversions. Perhaps it is only when a project is not well received that people begin to think of the difficulties involved with changing a work's genre. Using Gulliver's Travels as an example, discrepancies and additions in the movie can be contrasted with Jonathan Swift's original text.