Kyoto Asian Studies Group April meeting
niels van steenpaal
Dear colleagues,
The speaker for the April meeting of the Kyoto Asian Studies Group is Kai Xie, who will present “Mediating Between Chinese Studies and Bashō: Yamaguchi Sodō’s Sinitic Writings in Correspondence with Bashō” (see abstract below).
The talk will be held on Thursday, April 28th, 18:00-20:00 Seminar Room 8 (第8演習室), on the basement floor of Research Bldg. No. 2 (総合研究2号館), on the Kyoto University Main Campus (see link below for access information).
Abstract
Mediating Between Chinese Studies and Bashō: Yamaguchi Sodō’s Sinitic Writings in Correspondence with Bashō
Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), Japan's best-known haikai (popular linked verse) poet, is generally regarded to have been deeply influenced by Chinese literature and thought. This presentation seeks to demonstrate that Bashō might not have read many Chinese texts in the original, and his reception of Chinese texts was sometimes mediated by his friend Yamaguchi Sodō (1642-1716), who had profound knowledge in Chinese studies and was also a respected haikai poet.
There is already abundant scholarship in Japanese that examines the relationship between Bashō and Sodō, but it mainly focuses on their communications in the field of haikai. This presentation, however, concentrates on their correspondences in which Sodō wrote in Literary Sinitic (kanbun) and Bashō wrote in Japanese. Sodō was fully capable of writing orthodox kanbun, as proved in his other works, but in his communication with Bashō, he often wrote kanbun in what I call haikai-style. These haikai-style kanbun writings served as a bridge between Bashō and a Chinese world, often ingeniously linking Bashō and his surroundings to recluse tradition and Daoist concepts. In so doing, they contributed to deepening Bashō’s understanding of Chinese literature and thought, and sometimes even inspired Bashō to write haikai verses that resonate with Chinese literary precedents. This presentation highlights the important role Sodō played in the establishment of the so-called Bashō's style (shōfū), decentralizing Bashō's role in this process.
Kai Xie is Assistant Professor of Japanese at Kenyon College.
For access information see:
https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/access/main-campus-map
(the venue is on the south side of the basement floor of the building listed on the map as nr. 34)
Please refrain from bringing food or drinks into the meeting room.
Contact: Niels van Steenpaal, nielsvan...@hotmail.com
About the Kyoto Asian Studies Group:
The KASG is a long-standing Kyoto-based research network that hosts monthly research presentations by experts from various Asian Studies fields. Emphasizing long Q&A sessions, we aim to provide an informal atmosphere in which scholars can freely exchange ideas concerning both finished and in-progress research. Admission is free, and we always welcome new members and presenters.