Traditional Japanese Literature

Traditional Japanese Literature
Author: Haruo Shirane
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2012
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0231157304

Traditional Japanese Literature features a rich array of works dating from the very beginnings of the Japanese written language through the evolution of Japan's noted aristocratic court and warrior cultures. It contains stunning new translations of such canonical texts as The Tales of the Heike as well as works and genres previously ignored by scholars and unknown to general readers.

Japanese No Dramas

Japanese No Dramas
Author:
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 384
Release: 1992-10-29
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 0141907800

Japanese nõ theatre or the drama of 'perfected art' flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries largely through the genius of the dramatist Zeami. An intricate fusion of music, dance, mask, costume and language, the dramas address many subjects, but the idea of 'form' is more central than 'meaning' and their structure is always ritualized. Selected for their literary merit, the twenty-four plays in this volume dramatize such ideas as the relationship between men and the gods, brother and sister, parent and child, lover and beloved, and the power of greed and desire. Revered in Japan as a cultural treasure, the spiritual and sensuous beauty of these works has been a profound influence for English-speaking artists including W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound and Benjamin Britten.

Radio Beckett

Radio Beckett
Author: Kevin Branigan
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2008
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9783039113712

In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), Samuel Beckett wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio. These plays display the author's appreciation of the essential properties of radio broadcasting. They also highlight a profound musicality which, while evident in his novels, poetry and plays, is particularly noteworthy in this medium. This book is an analysis of the contribution made to radio drama by Beckett. In these plays, he is concerned with themes of human isolation and the frailty of memory and communication. He identified radio as an ideal medium for the presentation of these themes and the development of drama which could transcend the limitations of realism. Beckett used music as an essential component of his radio output for a variety of purposes. In this study, the author argues that, while Beckett's radio plays are suffused with a bleak sense of disintegration of language, music offers a sense of optimism. A variety of musical and performance perspectives is utilised to gain a greater appreciation of these radio plays.

The Secret Window

The Secret Window
Author: Anthony Hood Chambers
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1994-07-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1684173086

At the time of his death in 1965, at the age of 79, Tanizaki Jun’ichiro had been writing fiction, plays, essays, poems, and translations almost without interruption for more than fifty-five years. In this series of meditations on seven of Tanizaki’s novels and novellas, the renowned translator Anthony Chambers focuses on the thread of fantasy that Tanizaki weaves throughout his work. He examines Tanizaki’s subtle use of storytelling devices to evoke his characters’ alternate sense of reality and to encourage the reader’s participation in their fantasies. Employing his intimate knowledge of Tanizaki’s works, Chambers superbly evokes the beauty and truth Tanizaki’s characters find in their ideal worlds.

From the Country of Eight Islands

From the Country of Eight Islands
Author: Hiroaki Sato
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 700
Release: 1986
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780231063951

A survey of Japanese poetry contains the works of over one hundred poets from the eighth century to the present.

Just Living

Just Living
Author: Tonʼa
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2003
Genre: History
ISBN: 0231125534

As America has become more pluralistic, Protestantism, with its long roots in American history and culture, has hardly remained static. This finely crafted portrait of a remarkably complex group of Christian denominations describes Protestantism's history, constituent subgroups and their activities, and the way in which its dialectic with American culture has shaped such facets of the wider society as healthcare, welfare, labor relations, gender roles, and political discourse. Part I provides an introduction to the religion's essential beliefs, a brief history, and a taxonomy of its primary American varieties. Part II shows the diversity of the tradition with vivid accounts of life and worship in a variety of mainline and evangelical churches. Part III explores the vexed relationship Protestantism maintains with critical social issues, including homosexuality, feminism, and social justice. The appendices include biographical sketches of notable Protestant leaders, a chronology, a glossary, and an annotated list of resources for further study.