Early Modern
Japanese Literature (Volume D)
Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868)
• Tokugawa shogunate
• Edo
• merchant, samurai
class
• bookstores
• literacy
• popular reading—
haikai and Buddhist
devotional texts
Rice
Society
• Christianity
• domain lords and
their families
• prostitution and
courtesans
• pleasure quarters
• Yoshiwara quarter
Ukiyo-e, woodbloock prints
Kabuki Theater
•
•
•
•
stylization, gesture
makeup
urbanization
social classes
Monzaemon: Bunraku, Puppet Theater
•
•
•
•
•
popular art form
puppets
joruri chanting
shamisen
voice training
Unorthodox Poetry
•
•
•
•
haikai
linked verse
haibun (prose essay)
haiga (ink paintings)
Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694)
•
•
•
•
•
•
marginal figure
themes in poetry
1680 retreat
“Banana plant hut”
journey with Sora
The Narrow Road to
the Deep North
Ihara Saikaku (1686)
“I made love with the man day and night.
When he lost his desire, I strengthened
him with loach broth, eggs and yams, and
we continued. Gradually, as I expected, he
ran dry” (p. 605).
Tokugawa Japan
Test Your Knowledge
With no wars left to fight, the numerous elite
samurais often became _________ .
a. bureaucrats
b. artists
c. farmers
d. warriors
Test Your Knowledge
Prior to the introduction of coined money in
the early Tokugawa period, what was the
standard of commercial exchange?
a. glass beads
b. gold
c. rice
d. paper notes
Test Your Knowledge
What is kabuki theater?
a. stylized acting with no talking
b. performance using puppets
c. dance-drama using live actors
d. a form of Noh drama
Test Your Knowledge
Which of the following works is the diary of a
poet’s travels?
a. The Narrow Road to the Deep North
b. Life of a Sensuous Woman
c. Matsu Bashō
d. Collection of Myriad Leaves
Test Your Knowledge
Which of the following statements is true?
a. Writers of the period were not highly
regarded.
b. Theater was not considered a literary
form.
c. Writers often mixed elements of classical
and popular literature.
d. Writers were not allowed to mix elements
of classical and popular literature.
This concludes the Lecture
PowerPoint presentation for
The Norton Anthology
of World Literature
Visit the StudySpace at:
http://wwnorton.com/studyspace
For more learning resources,
please visit the StudySpace site for
The Norton Anthology
Of World Literature.