Politics and Poetics of the Last Japanese Imperial Collection: Shinshoku Kokinwakashū (original) (raw)

Abstract

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.

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