Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Court Poetry and the Culture of Learning in Japan

Court Poetry and the Culture of Learning in Japan

Stilerman, Ariel

Hardcover

Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs

Literary CriticismPoetry CriticismGeneral Poetry

ISBN10: 0674303415
ISBN13: 9780674303416
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: Mar 17 2026
Pages: 318
Weight: 1.40
Height: 1.27 Width: 5.99 Depth: 9.07
Language: English

Once the exclusive domain of the aristocracy, classical Japanese poetry (waka) underwent a remarkable transformation in the medieval period, becoming a dynamic tool for cultural education embraced by warriors, monks, merchants, and commoners alike. Ariel Stilerman investigates this evolution in Court Poetry and the Culture of Learning in Japan by examining not only poetic treatises but also overlooked genres--encyclopedias, professional manuals, Buddhist essays, literary primers, didactic fiction, and popular tales.

As new audiences turned to waka and its playful counterpart, kyōka, in pursuit of salvation, career advancement, love, or adventure, poetry became a bridge between emerging social identities and the elite traditions of the aristocracy. Stilerman concludes that even as waka declined at the turn of the twentieth century, the tea ceremony rose to take its place--preserving and reinterpreting its role as the embodiment of Japanese tradition.

Offering a fresh and far-reaching perspective, this book illuminates poetry's enduring influence--not just as an art form, but as a vital thread woven through the fabric of Japan's cultural history.

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