Małgorzata (Gosia) K . Citko-DuPlantis | University of Tennessee Knoxville (original) (raw)

Books by Małgorzata (Gosia) K . Citko-DuPlantis

Małgorzata Citko traktuje problem polityki zagranicznej Japonii wobec Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej... more Małgorzata Citko traktuje problem polityki zagranicznej Japonii wobec Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej w latach 1972-2008 wielowymiarowo. Z jednej strony autorka postrzega relacje międzynarodowe jako dziedzinę interdyscyplinarną, z drugiej strony bierze pod uwagę wiele aspektów charakterystycznych ściśle dla stosunków japońsko-chińskich, m. in. uwzględnia racje japońskiego Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, ekonomistów, socjologów, japońskiej opinii publicznej, społeczności międzynarodowej, a także tendencje w polityce zagranicznej Chin kontynentalnych względem Japonii. Taki punkt widzenia daje podstawy do wszechstronnego oglądu sytuacji i umożliwia rzetelną analizę problemu.
Największą wartością publikacji jest trud dotarcia do prawdy, próba obiektywnego osądu zdarzeń.
Analiza historii stosunków japońsko-chińskich, która ma wielowiekową tradycję, prowadzi autorkę do wniosku, że obecna rywalizacja obu krajów nie jest zjawiskiem nowym, a już znanym w historii, że sekwencja różnych zdarzeń, wypadków w relacjach między oboma krajami ciagle się powtarza. Zmienia się tylko kontekst polityczny, ekonomiczny, gospodarczy.
Na podkreślenie zasługuje warsztat naukowy Małgorzaty Citko, który w dużej mierze wpływa na wartość publikacji.
Autorka jest absolwentką kierunku "stosunki międzynarodowe" w Collegium Civitas oraz japonistyki na Uniwersytecie Warszawskimi. Wiedza na temat kultury Japonii oraz znajomość języka japońskiego pozwala jej na swobodne poruszanie się w literaturze przedmiotu, potrzebny dystans emocjonalny do tematu, niezależność sądów i obiektywną ocenę sytaucji.
Warto zauważyć, że książka napisana jest nienaganną angielszczyzną. To kolejny przykład, że młode pokolenie polskiej inteligencji bez kompleksów może zajmować się problemami polityki międzynarodowej.

prof. dr hab. Waldemar Jan Dziak
kierownik Zakładu Azji i Pacyfiku ISP PAN

Papers by Małgorzata (Gosia) K . Citko-DuPlantis

Japanese Language and Literature 58 (2), 2024

Tackling fundamental questions crucial for content creation in video game development, the articl... more Tackling fundamental questions crucial for content creation in video game development, the article analyzes the cyborg ninja Genji character in an American video game Overwatch. It argues that Overwatch, while falling into global trends of Neomedievalism and techno-Orientalism, made Genji more famous and cooler (in the sense of the “Cool Japan” strategy) as a character and hero than ever before. It also emphasizes that since it is through Overwatch that most students currently access the term “Genji” online, the video game claimed the right to control the future of certain elements of premodern Japan’s cultural heritage.

The Journal of Japanese Studies vol. 50, no. 1, 2024

During Japan's late medieval era, the Ashikaga shoguns wished to merge the imperial and warrior g... more During Japan's late medieval era, the Ashikaga shoguns wished to merge the imperial and warrior governments and establish a feudal monarchy. Shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori made considerable efforts to acquire cultural capital and start a new imperial dynasty. He understood the symbolic importance of ancient traditions for the realization of his ambitions. One gesture aimed at acquiring cultural authority was his initiation and sponsorship of a literary project known today as the last imperial anthology of waka, Shinshoku kokin wakashū. The collection reveals that its compiler, Asukai Masayo, challenged the shogun with an agenda that undermined Yoshinori's authority.

Sensō to Man’yōshū no. 5, 2023

Studies in Japanese Literature and Culture no. 6, 2023

Man'yōshū 万葉集 (MYS; Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves, 759-785)-the first extant collection of wa... more Man'yōshū 万葉集 (MYS; Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves, 759-785)-the first extant collection of waka 和歌, or Japanese court poetry-has been researched by many generations of Japanese literature scholars in and outside Japan. Various experts have approached the collection with different research methodologies and theories. In this article, I present yet another way of looking at Man'yōshū, its poetry, and its reception history as an alternative to current editorial practices in premodern Japanese literary studies. Many modern editions of premodern literary works present allusions to Man'yōshū in the following manner: when indicating relevant honka 本歌 (source poems) and/or sankōka 参考歌 (reference poems), citations usually point to such poem(s) as they appear in the earliest extant complete manuscript of the collection, the Nishi Honganji-bon 西本願寺本, which while dating from the late Kamakura 鎌倉 period (1185-1333) was in fact discovered in 1913, and introduced to the public only in the 1930s. Alternatively, modern editors provide (from sources outside Man'yōshū) those textual references closest, in their opinion, to the language of the annotated poem; even these references, however, are usually listed according to the date of their creation/publication, revealing more concern for chronology than for possible channels of appropriation. 1 Furthermore, likely for practical reasons, modern editions of Japanese classics only rarely provide multiple textual variants of Man'yōshū poems from different manuscripts, and even then only occasionally list the secondary sources containing those texts. Such annotation practices have led to the impression that premodern Japanese poets had access to and used Man'yōshū manuscripts when composing their own Expanding the Web of Intertextuality

Monumenta Nipponica 74/2 , 2019

Fujiwara no Shunzei introduced his poetic school, the Mikohidari, to the waka world with the comp... more Fujiwara no Shunzei introduced his poetic school, the Mikohidari, to the waka world with the composition of his rst poetic commentary, Man’yōshū jidaikō. Shunzei intended the text to demonstrate his expertise on Man’yōshū, the earliest extant collection of Japanese poetry, which had started to attract greater attention in early medieval Japan. The text t into Shunzei’s larger agenda of taking over power in the poetic world from the Man’yōshū specialists of the Rokujō school, with which he had already been in open con ict. It helped him to promote his new school, which would later become the driving force behind waka development.

Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Japanese Literature, 2019

Przegląd Orientalistyczny no. 1-2, 2015

Abstract: The paper analyzes the discrepancies between the Man’yōshū’s images of the medieval and... more Abstract: The paper analyzes the discrepancies between the Man’yōshū’s images of the medieval and contemporary eras. As it turns out, the contemporary reception of this very first extant collection of Japanese poetry is quite different from the one from the medieval period. It seems that Man’yōshū was considered to be an imperial anthology preserved in many different manuscripts, none of which was canonized or preferred in any manner. There were many different interpretations in regard to the information about this anthology’s creation, e.g. date of compilation, number of poems, identity of the compiler(s) and of the emperor who allegedly commissioned it. Such an image has its origin in the existence of a poetic discourse, participation in which became one of the requirements for early medieval poets from various poetic schools to acquire patronage for their poetic activity. Above all, this paper demonstrates that Man’yōshū was a much more fluid, challenged and reconsidered text in the early medieval era than we may currently think.

Silva Iaponicarum 37 (2013), pp. 11-65

The paper is devoted to the legendary figure of a mid-Heian poet named Izumi Shikibu, based on th... more The paper is devoted to the legendary figure of a mid-Heian poet named Izumi Shikibu, based on the analysis of pieces of poetry attributed to her and on its reception. The author concentrates on the analysis of conventionality and uniqueness in the Izumi Shikibu poetry, as well as on Buddhist traces in her
works, giving an account on different representations of the poet figure in the "Izumi Shikibu Nikki." On the basis of presented analysis of facts and their interpretations, the figure ‘Izumi Shikibu’ is viewed as an important subject for the study of the medievalisation and legendarisation processes.

Litteraria Copernicana 2 (14), pp. 45-63, Nicolas Copernicus University, Toruń 2014

It is undeniable that noh theater, a form of art that emerged in medieval Japan at the end of the... more It is undeniable that noh theater, a form of art that emerged in medieval Japan at the end of the 13th c., is a genre of drama embodying the performing arts. It is thus non-existent if it is only on a piece of paper. Despite this, written texts are the absolute basis for all noh dramas, since in noh there is little room for changing an original text which has been constructed in accordance with established composition principles and filled with religious symbolism and references to many earlier Japanese literary works. Numerous versions of extant noh manuscripts contain a great amount of allusions to the classical Japanese poetry genre waka. It is believed that as Zeami Motokiyo (1363?-1443?), one of the most well-known and respected noh playwrights and actors, was fond of the poetic style of the first imperial collection Kokin Wakashū, as his son-in-law and successor, Komparu Zenchiku (1405-ok.1470), was keen on the poetry of the eighth imperial collection Shinkokin Wakashū. However, an analysis of poetic allusions in two noh plays by Zenchiku – Kamo and Teika - indicates that it might have been rather a poetic style of an early medieval poet Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241), one of the compilers of Shinkokinshū, that had perhaps been an object of fascination and inspiration for Komparu Zenchiku.

Acta Asiatica Varsovienisa no. 27 (2014), pp. 55-81

The paper analyzes several poems by the Princess Shikishi (11491200) from the viewpoint of Manyôs... more The paper analyzes several poems by the Princess Shikishi (11491200) from the viewpoint of Manyôshû appropriation. Despite relative scarcity of allusions to Manyôshû, some features in her appropriation style are found in the poetry of other contemporary poets, e.g. frequent appropriation of volumes XXI and well-known Manyôshû lines, utilization of secondary sources rather than Manyôshû manuscripts, etc. This demonstrates complexity of channels through which Manyôshû was appropriated. Simultaneously, there are features of her Manyôshû appropriation that distinguished her from other contemporary poets, which evidences that Princess Shikishi was not only a participant in but also a significant contributor to early medieval poetic discourse.

Analecta Nipponica no. 2 (2012), pp. 21-56

Princess Shikishi’s love poems, which are believed to be too emotionally profound to have been wr... more Princess Shikishi’s love poems, which are believed to be too emotionally profound to have been written simply for the sake of Japanese traditional poetic convention, have made her one of the most admired and controversial poetesses in Japanese literature. This paper will examine original versions of her love poems, taking into account patterns in usage of vocabulary, natural imagery, and Japanese poetic techniques. Reading poetry from textual and contextual points of view is crucial for understating literature. Thus, I argue (and clarify) that whatever inspired Shikishi’s love poems, her work reflects a dual (subjective and objective—private and public) perspective on Japanese poetry.

Talks by Małgorzata (Gosia) K . Citko-DuPlantis

In ancient Japan various religious rituals were one of the means to enhance the central position ... more In ancient Japan various religious rituals were one of the means to enhance the central position of the emperor and to legitimize the imperial court. Ritual was thus a tool in the process of establishing power. This paper examines how the practices of the Rokujō and Mikohidari poetic schools also served as media to gain power in the early medieval poetic world. It turns out that various rituals, e.g. Hitomaro eigu (a ceremony worshiping the portrait and poetry of a Man’yōshū poet Kakinomoto Hitomaro [late 600’s]) practiced by the Rokujō school, and certain practices cultivated by both the Rokujō and Mikohidari schools, e.g. transmission of texts and literary knowledge orally and in a form of karon (poetry criticism), participation in uta’awase (poetry contests) as contestants and poetic arbiters, were means to establish their position in the early medieval era.
Ritualistic character of the Rokujō and Mikohidari schools’ practices enabled them not only to demonstrate that they possessed traditions, lineages of scholarship and knowledge about literature, but it above all allowed them to advertize their poetic activity to potential patrons. I believe both schools attempted to legitimize their position as specialists about certain literary texts. Ultimately, they attempted to ensure sponsorship of their poetic activity in the future. The history of Japanese poetry demonstrates that the Mikohidari poets “won the battle” for the poetic patronage and position of leaders of the medieval poetic world.

Allusive variation (honkadori) is believed to be one of the features of Japanese court poetry (wa... more Allusive variation (honkadori) is believed to be one of the features of Japanese court poetry (waka) of early medieval period. Honkadori is usually defined as “intentional appropriation of poetic expressions from well-known and often earlier poems in newly composed waka.” However, this one-directional (present→past) and thus one-dimensional approach focuses linearly only on channels of poetry appropriation. It does not take into consideration the existence of poetic discourse, which provides a multi-directional and dispersal approach to referring practices in waka. In fact, poetic discourse is a significant feature of early medieval waka.
This paper provides an alternative interpretation of referring practices in early medieval waka at an example of Man’yōshū poetry appropriation in poems of numerous poets from various poetic factions. I argue that poetic discourse is a much broader concept lying above any referring practices and that honkadori is a way of half-intentional creating of, claiming, participating in and validating poetic discourse. This paper demonstrates that it was the already established poetic discourse, which may be defined as common knowledge about waka possessed by poets in early medieval period, not any particular line of transmission or affiliation to any poetic school, that caused numerous poets to allude to the same Man’yōshū poems and expressions. Honkadori is thus a manifestation and one of the interpretations of poetic discourse. Moreover, as opposed to Japanese literary studies that emphasize the significance of Man’yōshū manuscripts for referring practices, my interpretation of honkadori allows secondary sources and poetry by fellow early medieval poets to be channels of Man’yōshū poetry appropriation.

The first extant poetic treatise by Fujiwara Shunzei, Man’yōshū jidaikō, is one of the least rese... more The first extant poetic treatise by Fujiwara Shunzei, Man’yōshū jidaikō, is one of the least researched late Heian Period texts. It seems, however, to be an important piece of non-Rokujō poetry criticism in regard to the Man’yōshū’s reception history because it deals with issues related to this collection’s compilation, which was a matter of contention during the early medieval era, in a manner at times quite different than that of other texts of poetry criticism in the late Heian Period. Furthermore, Man’yōshū jidaikō is the first extant text demonstrating that the Rokujō poets were not the only ones who possessed significant knowledge about Man’yōshū in the late Heian Period. By comparing Man’yōshū jidaikō to other late Heian poetic treatises dealing with Man’yōshū, we see that the first collection of Japanese poetry was a much more fluid, challenged and often reconsidered text in the early medieval era, and thus likely throughout history, than we may currently believe. Moreover, Man’yōshū jidaikō helps to argue that knowledge about Man’yōshū in the late Heian Period was not necessarily motivated only by one’s poetic affiliation but was in fact a part of already established poetic discourse. Man’yōshū jidaikō therefore provides a valuable example of how various opinions in regard to Man’yōshū were thus manifestations of different ways of participating in and interpreting such discourse.

prof. dr hab. Waldemar Jan Dziak
kierownik Zakładu Azji i Pacyfiku ISP PAN

Japanese Language and Literature 58 (2), 2024

The Journal of Japanese Studies vol. 50, no. 1, 2024

Sensō to Man’yōshū no. 5, 2023

Studies in Japanese Literature and Culture no. 6, 2023

Monumenta Nipponica 74/2 , 2019

Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Japanese Literature, 2019

Przegląd Orientalistyczny no. 1-2, 2015

Silva Iaponicarum 37 (2013), pp. 11-65

Litteraria Copernicana 2 (14), pp. 45-63, Nicolas Copernicus University, Toruń 2014

Acta Asiatica Varsovienisa no. 27 (2014), pp. 55-81

Analecta Nipponica no. 2 (2012), pp. 21-56

"The first collection of Japanese poetry, entitled Man’yōshū (MYS, Ten Thousand Leaves, ca. 759-7... more "The first collection of Japanese poetry, entitled Man’yōshū (MYS, Ten Thousand Leaves, ca. 759-782) has been annotated, studied and translated by many generations of scholars around the world. The MYS is an important subject matter for the field of waka studies, since it lies at the source of Japanese literary history, and it has always aroused much interest and controversy among Japanologists. The MYS became an object of scholarship early in the history and already by the medieval era, when numerous poetic circles and schools emerged and poetry became entwined in court politics, knowledge about the MYS has been believed rather exclusive to the Rokujō poetic school. However, as it turns out, MYS was also an object of interest for the Mikohidari house poets, e.g. Fujiwara Shunzei (1114-1204) and Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241), believed to be Rokujō rivals, who extensively studied the Heian Period masterpieces, e.g. the Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji, ca. 1008) by Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 970-ca. 1014), or the Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book, ca. 1002) by Sei Shōnagon (ca. 964–ca. 1027).

This paper examines the appropriation of MYS poetry in selected poetic examples of Rokujō Kiyosuke (1104-1177) and Kenshō (ca. 1130-ca. 1210) (Rokujō), Fujiwara Shunzei and Fujiwara Teika (Mikohidari), as well as some other poets closely associated with both schools. The results of this paper hopefully demostrate that, as opposed to a general belief about the Rokujō and Mikohidari houses to be rivals having poetically not much in common, there are significant similarities in the appropriation of MYS poetry in works of both schools’ members. Thus, as much as Rokujō and Mikohidari seem to represent different stages of evolution in the appropriation of MYS poetry, they also appear to be more allies than rivals in Japanese court poetry."

We tend to think that we “know” Japanese literature because we are familiar with the Japanese lit... more We tend to think that we “know” Japanese literature because we are familiar with the Japanese literary canon. However, Japanese literary canon - selected for us by many generations of Japanese scholars - does not cover a full picture of Japanese literature. Moreover, Japanese literary canon contains another layer of canonization, since the majority of canonized classical Japanese literary works exist in a form of not only one but numerous manuscripts. One of such works is the first collection of Japanese poetry, the Man’yōshū (Ten Thousand Leaves, ca. 759-782), of which about 25 various manuscripts have survived to date.
Man’yōshū underwent many stages of canonization since the Heian Period (8-12th c.) but until the medieval era none of numerous Man’yōshū manuscripts had ever been considered to be “the Man’yōshū text.” Only in the Muromachi Period (1337-1573) Man’yōshū manuscripts descending from any other lines of transmission than monk Sengaku’s (1203–c. 1273) ceased to be copied because it was believed Sengaku solved all mysteries regarding this collection. Then, the Kokugaku (National Learning) movement from the Edo Period (1603-1868) established Man’yōshū as a national poetry anthology – the label that it bears up to date. However, what we tend to overlook is the fact that Kokugaku movement did not canonize Man’yōshū itself but one specific Man’yōshū manuscript: the Kan’ei Hanpon from 1643. Even though Kan’ei Hanpon is no longer “the Man’yōshū text,” the Kokugaku paved the way for the canonization of one manuscript of a given literary work. Thus, since the early 1930’s it has been the Nishihonganji-bon from the late Kamakura Period, which descended from the monk Sengaku and is the oldest full extant Man’yōshū manuscript, that is considered the most “legitimate” and became the basis for majority of Man’yōshū annotations and references.
Other Man’yōshū manuscripts become significant once we turn to the pre-Sengaku early medieval poetic treatises and poetry of Rokujō and Mikohidari schools. It turns out that Rokujō school treatises contain numerous versions of the same Man’yōshū poems and that they were probably based on multiple manuscripts. This suggests that even Rokujō school, considered to be “the household” of Man’yōshū scholarship during the late Heian Period, might have not favored and canonized any specific Man’yōshū manuscripts. Simultaneously, some of Mikohidari school poetic treatises reflect textual variants found in the Hirose-bon manuscript from 1781, which is believed to have descended from Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241). Poetry of many poets of the early medieval period, including Rokujō and Mikohidari schools members, also reflects the significance of various Man’yōshū manuscripts and secondary sources of Man’yōshū poems.
This paper demonstrates that at least up until the early medieval period there existed multiple Man’yōshū manuscripts, none of which were favored or canonized; that knowledge about Man’yōshū poetry was channeled not only through Man’yōshū texts but also a number of secondary sources; and that the contemporary reception of the Man’yōshū is quite different from the one of the medieval period. This demonstrates that what we today call “Man’yōshū” was in fact a rather fluid text throughout the late Heian and early Kamakura Periods.

The last Japanese imperial collection, named Shinshoku Kokinwakashū (Shinshoku KKS, New Continued... more The last Japanese imperial collection, named Shinshoku Kokinwakashū (Shinshoku KKS, New Continued Collection of Ancient and Modern Times, 1439), is one of the least studied imperial anthologies of all compiled between 905 and 1439. Only a few articles have been published on it in Japanese. It is generally believed that the later ‘medieval’ imperial collections are ‘less valuable’ poetically. However, is the lack of ʻpoetic value’ the reason why the last chokusenshū has been neglected for years, even in Japanese academic society? The name of this poetic collection, Shinshoku KKS, indicates that it is related to three other imperial collections: Kokin Wakashū from 905, Shinkokin Wakashū from 1205, and the less known and studied Shoku Kokinwakashū from 1265. Shinshoku KKS is in fact a combination of the names of all three collections mentioned above. Does this indicate that this anthology reflects the poetics of all three earlier imperial anthologies, pays tribute to their poetics, and includes a significant amount of poems by earlier poets? This paper focuses mainly on Shinshoku KKS’s poetic examples. It seeks to find patterns regarding the Shinshoku KKS ʻpolitics of compilation’ and similarities of poetic diction and style, or their lack thereof, to the other three imperial anthologies mentioned above. The paper deals with the first five poems from the Spring Book I and Autumn Book I of Shinshoku KKS, since spring and autumn have always been given the most ‘poetic’ attention in traditional Japanese poetry.

Koraifūteishō was written by Fujiwara Shunzei in 1197. It contains 191 poems from Man’yōshū, a pr... more Koraifūteishō was written by Fujiwara Shunzei in 1197. It contains 191 poems from Man’yōshū, a private collection of Japanese poetry compiled long before a tradition of imperial anthologies of Japanese poetry came into existence.
Treatise consists of two volumes, the first of which is almost entirely focused on the Man’yōshū poetics and poems. It is intriguing that Shunzei, a member of the Mikohidari house, which regarded the famous Tale of Genji as a basic source of knowledge of poetry, turned out to be interested in Man’yōshū. The question arises how he in fact obtained a copy of Man’yōshū. Was it through his poetry master Fujiwara Mototoshi (ca. 1056-1142), who was one of the scholars responsible for providing readings to Man’yōshū poems, which were pretty much unreadable for most of poets and scholars of the medieval period, or was it someone else? It is notable that the rivalry Rokujō family claimed itself specialists of this collection during the medieval period.
Shunzei probably had a different copy of Man’yōshū than the one possessed by the Rokujō school, which could reasonably explain a number of discrepancies between the Nishi Honganji Bon version of this collection and poems found in Koraifūteishō. The source of Man’yōshū poems in this treatise may have another explanation. Perhaps Shunzei had access to more than one source of this collection, i.e. a poetic compendium Kokin waka rokujō.
Close reading of the Man’yōshū poems in Koraifūteishō, and a careful study of other texts related to this subject, are attempts to determine their source. Moreover, the paper attempts to determine whether Shunzei was a laic passionate of Man’yōshū, or also its specialist, possibly possessing a different copy of this collection, and thus having a “non-mainstream” knowledge of this collection.