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Access Type

Open Access

Document Type

thesis

Degree Program

Japanese

Degree Type

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Year Degree Awarded

2010

Month Degree Awarded

May

Keywords

Izumi Shikibu, Heian, Poetry, Translations, Sequences

Abstract

The Go-Tsuchimikado Shinkan-bon ~ Izumi Shikibu Shū is a 15th century manuscript of 150 poems by the 10th/11th century poet, Izumi Shikibu. This thesis includes translations for all 150 poems with detailed translation notes and an examination of the arrangement of the poems. It seems likely that the Shinkan-bon would have been organized in a sequence that links poems together in such a way as to create a larger poetical work for the collection as a whole. Sequences are developed through a natural progression of temporal and spatial elements in the poems, as well as connections through mood, theme, imagery, associations, and the repetition of words. This method of anthology arrangement had been common in Japanese literature for hundreds of years prior to the assumed date of creation for the Shinkan-bon in the early 13th century. Three sections of the Shinkan-bon were examined in this thesis to determine if there was continuity between the poems. The first section is made up of the first twenty-five seasonal poems, running from spring to winter. This section does show continuity between some of the poems but does not contain an over-all sequence. The second section is made up of fifteen poems in the middle of the collection and the third section is made up of the final ten poems in the Shinkan-bon. There is no sequencing in the second and third sections, and thus it can be determined that the Shinkan-bon collection has no sequential significance to its order, and that the poems are organized by another method.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/1275688

First Advisor

Stephen M. Forrest

COinS