Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century [Paperback]

Donald Keene (Author)

Book Description

Series: History of Japanese Literature | Publication Date: October 15, 1999

Donald Keene employs his prodigious wealth of knowledge, critical insight, and narrative aplomb to guide readers through the first nine hundred years of Japanese literature -- a period that not only defined the unique properties of Japanese prosody and prose but also produced some of its greatest works. Covering courtly fiction, Buddhist writings, war tales, diaries, poems, and more, Seeds in the Heart explores a vast and variegated treasury of writings. Detailed textual examinations of classic texts -- from the Kojiki to The Tale of Genji, from The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon to Zeami's Nô plays -- allow students, lay readers, and scholars a new understanding and enjoyment of this great literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

During the nine hundred years covered here . . . literature was primarily an aristocratic pursuit. . . . The elegance and urbanity of Keene´s style suit this material. -- Review

During the nine hundred years covered here . . . literature was primarily an aristocratic pursuit. . . . The elegance and urbanity of Keenes style suit this material -- The New Yorker

About the Author

Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. He is the author of a multivolume history of Japanese literature, of which Seeds in the Heart is the first part, and at least thirty other books, including many translations from Japanese literature. He has received numerous honors in both the United States and Japan, and is a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1265 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231114419
• ISBN-13: 978-0231114417
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #507,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Standard English Survey of Early Japanese Literature, June 27, 2005

By 

Robert E. Morrell (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century (Paperback)

Even if we make allowance for the impressive multi-volume literary histories of Konishi Jin'ichi and Kato Shuichi (as the first reader [1997] has noted), Professor Keene's four-volume opus is surely now the standard English general survey of Japanese literature. Seeds in the Heart, the last volume to be published, covers the very earliest period -- from the Record of Ancient Matters (712) to the "Late Sixteenth Century," spanning some 9 centuries. That leaves 3 volumes for the next four centuries, an indication of the author's personal leanings.

Of course, we all have our own preferences. Since I happen to be interested in Tale Literature (setsuwa), I feel that out of the book's 1265 pages devoted to the early period, setsuwa might have been given a bit more space than the 41 pages between p. 568 and p. 609 (see below). Others will doubtless have a different take; so I think it will be useful to the potential buyer/reader to see what is offered in the table of contents, along with the pagination.

Preface xiii, Introduction 1
EARLY AND HEIAN LITERATURE: 1. The Kojiki 33; 2. Writings in Chinese of the Nara Period 62; 3. The Man'yoshu 85; 4. Poetry and Prose in Chinese of the Early Heian Period 181; 5. The Transition from the Man'yoshu to the Kokinshu 218; 6. The Kokinshu 245; 7. Late Heian Collections of Waka Poetry 277; 8. Late Heian Poetry and Prose in Chinese 341; 9. Heian Diaries 358; 10. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 412; 11. The Beginnings of Fiction 433; 12. The Tale of Genji 477; 13. Courtly Fiction After The Tale of Genji 515; 14. Mirrors of History 551; 15. Tale Literature 568.

THE MIDDLE AGES: Introduction 609; 16. Tales of Warfare 613; 17. The Age of the Shin Kokinshu 643; 18. Waka Poetry of the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods 699; 19. Buddhist Writings of the Kamakura Period 749; 20. Courtly Fiction of the Kamakura Period 789; 21. Diaries of the Kamakura Period 825; 22. Essays In Idleness 852; 23. Medieval War Tales 868; 24. Renga 921; 25. Diaries and Other Prose of the Muromachi Period 971; 26. No and Kyogen as Literature 999; 27. Literature of the Five Mountains 1062; 28. Muromachi Fiction: Otogi-Zoshi 1092; 29. The Late
Sixteenth Century; Glossary 1176; Selected List of Translations into English 1184; Index 1189.

. . . in short, a highly informative, useful resource which I recommend to anyone curious about early Japanese literature.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of genius, August 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century (Hardcover)

Keene has written a book that, though using an immense range of Japanese scholarly sources, is easily accessible to the interested reader.
His narrative style is clear and appealing.
He not only describes the Japanese classical literary canon, and quotes large chunks of it, but also evaluates the poetry and prose he treats with a careful and cultivated aesthetic sensibility.
The book is a delight to read.
Nothing like it exists on Japanese literature in the English language.

Konishi Jin'ichi's literary history is designed for specialists, and Kato Shuichi's similar 3-volume history does not have the depth and breadth of Keene's book with its characteristic attention to detail as Kato wrote his study mainly with Japanese readers in mind.
In short, 'Seeds in The Heart" is the culmination of a lifetime's scholarship, and provides an extraordinarily moving feast for readers

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best, February 9, 2010

By 

Manuel Del Rio Rodriguez "Galician Bookworm" (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century (Paperback)

Donald Keene's "Seeds in the Heart" is the first of his 4 volume History of Japanese Literature. This one covers the works from the beginnings of the said literature till the late sixteenth century (Momoyama Period). The other 3 are about literature of the Edo period ("World within walls") and the post-Meiji restoration pieces, with 1 volume for prose, another one for the rest ("Dawn to the West").

Keene's book is an authentic Tour de Force, and arguably, the best History of the Japanese Literature that anyone who reads in English can access. This first volume include a stagerring 1200 pages of essays and work, and cover in a very high (and sometimes, detailed) degree the main productions of the literature of the times: from Heian diaries, Imperial Anthologies, Prose Romances, Renga... You name it.

The scholarship is very well done, and yet the book remains very readable and enjoyable, with lots of excerpts and explanations. Information on translations is also ubiquitous.

In conclusion: if you're interested in having a detailed and well written summary of Japanese literature in English, this is were you'll get it. The only criticism I can make of the work is, perhaps, that the author clearly judges Japanese works from the standpoint of Western aesthetic discourse (privileging for example 'depth', 'subjectiveness', 'realism' and 'originality'). I totally share this stance, but I imagine there's others who wouldn't be so happy with it.