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Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Basho 1st Edition

by Haruo Shirane (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 11 ratings
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Basho (1644-94) is perhaps the best known Japanese poet in both Japan and the West, and yet there has been remarkably little serious scholarship in English on his achievement. This book is intended to address that virtual void by establishing the ground for critical discussion and reading of a central figure in Japanese culture, placing the works of Basho and his disciples in the context of broader social change.

Intended for both the general reader and the specialist, Traces of Dreams examines the issues of language, landscape, cultural memory, and social practice in early modern Japan through a fundamental reassessment of haikai―popular linked verse that eventually gave birth to modern haiku―particularly that of Basho and his disciples.

The author analyzes haikai not only as a specific poetic genre but as a mode of discourse that emerged from the profound engagement between the new commoner culture that came to the fore in the seventeenth century cities and the earlier traditions, which haikai parodied, transformed, and translated into the vernacular.

Traces of Dreams explores the manner in which haikai both appropriated and recast the established cultural and poetic associations embodied in nature, historical objects, and famous places―the landscape that preserved the cultural memory and that became the source of authority as well as the contested ground for haikai re-visioning and re-mapping.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0804730997
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0804730990
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1998
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 9 inches
  7. Print length
    400 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Basho (1644-94) is perhaps the best known Japanese poet in both Japan and the West, and yet there has been remarkably little serious scholarship in English on his achievement. This book is intended to address that virtual void by establishing the ground for critical discussion and reading of a central figure in Japanese culture, placing the works of Basho and his disciples in the context of broader social change.
Intended for both the general reader and the specialist, Traces of Dreams examines the issues of language, landscape, cultural memory, and social practice in early modern Japan through a fundamental reassessment of haikai—popular linked verse that eventually gave birth to modern haiku—particularly that of Basho and his disciples.
The author analyzes haikai not only as a specific poetic genre but as a mode of discourse that emerged from the profound engagement between the new commoner culture that came to the fore in the seventeenth century cities and the earlier traditions, which haikai parodied, transformed, and translated into the vernacular.
Traces of Dreams explores the manner in which haikai both appropriated and recast the established cultural and poetic associations embodied in nature, historical objects, and famous places—the landscape that preserved the cultural memory and that became the source of authority as well as the contested ground for haikai re-visioning and re-mapping.

From the Back Cover

Basho (1644-94) is perhaps the best known Japanese poet in both Japan and the West, and yet there has been remarkably little serious scholarship in English on his achievement. This book is intended to address that virtual void by establishing the ground for critical discussion and reading of a central figure in Japanese culture, placing the works of Basho and his disciples in the context of broader social change.
Intended for both the general reader and the specialist, Traces of Dreams examines the issues of language, landscape, cultural memory, and social practice in early modern Japan through a fundamental reassessment of haikai—popular linked verse that eventually gave birth to modern haiku—particularly that of Basho and his disciples.
The author analyzes haikai not only as a specific poetic genre but as a mode of discourse that emerged from the profound engagement between the new commoner culture that came to the fore in the seventeenth century cities and the earlier traditions, which haikai parodied, transformed, and translated into the vernacular.
Traces of Dreams explores the manner in which haikai both appropriated and recast the established cultural and poetic associations embodied in nature, historical objects, and famous places—the landscape that preserved the cultural memory and that became the source of authority as well as the contested ground for haikai re-visioning and re-mapping.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stanford University Press; 1st edition (January 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0804730997
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0804730990
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 11 ratings

About the author

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Haruo Shirane

Haruo Shirane

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Haruo Shirane was born in Japan and grew up in the United States. He had an interest in writing fiction and started as an English literature major in college, but in his junior year, after a year in London, he turned his attention to Japanese literature. His first book was on The Tale of Genji, which is noted as the world’s “first novel.” The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of the Tale of Genji looks at both the similarities to the modern European novel and at the very distinct differences, examining the Tale of Genji in a broad social, political, and literary context. His next major book was on Matsuo Basho and haiku. Here he begins with a comparative framework, looking at the North American and European reception of Japanese haiku and then goes on to show the highly unusual manner in which this poetry emerged and the cultural base on which it stands. The most recent book, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons, continues this trajectory, but carries it into various literary, visual, and artistic genres. He is interested in particular in the major role that nature and the four seasons has in Japanese culture.

In between these books, he has written two books on Japanese classical grammar, edited a number of anthologies of Japanese literature, and edited two volumes of essays on the issues of canonization and popularization of the Japanese classics.

Haruo Shirane is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, at Columbia University. He writes widely on Japanese literature, visual arts, and cultural history. He is particularly interested in the interaction between popular and elite cultures and the issue of cultural memory. He is the recipient of Fulbright, Japan Foundation, SSRC, NEH grants, and has been awarded the Kadokawa Genyoshi Prize, Ishida Hakyō Prize, and the Ueno Satsuki Memorial Prize on Japanese Culture.

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4.4 out of 5 stars
11 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kalankit Haseena
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and good to read
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2020
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This book deepens your appreciation of Basho while giving good information. A satisfying work of scholarship.
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Richard St. Clair
5.0 out of 5 stars Addition to Higginson's Review
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2012
William Higginson's review of this important book is spot-on. However, he missed a few features of the book I regard as significant.

One rather major omission is Shirane's wonderful, in-depth translation/analysis of a Basho-group kasen, "Withering Gusts", which is really the centerpiece of the book since it brings together all the critical themes of the book. In fact, the subtext of the book seems to lionize Basho as a renku (linked-verse) master par excellence, emphasizing his catalytic role in the development of renku (or haikai no renga as Basho would have called it).

"Withering Gusts" is an early example of a kasen (36-link renga or "renku") by Basho et al. It is outstanding in that the participants were all young, full of vigor, and overbrimming with newness and skill. Of course, Basho was the "master" of this renku session, but his presence seems to have stimulated the other renkujin to great poetic heights.

One plus is the reproduction of a few of Basho's own haiga, sumi-e drawings he made with his hokku poems and calligraphy included.

Haruo Shirane is a thoughtful critic who brings much to bear on his subject. He skillfully shows how Basho brought newness and vitality into renga by introducing haikai subjects that would have been prohibited in the more formal and sober rule-bound renga of earlier masters such as Sogi (d. 1502). Shirane shows how Basho not simply introduced demotic subjects but raised them to the level of great poetry.

This book, as the flap claims, is truly for both the general reader and the specialist. As a "general reader" myself, I must confess some of the analysis went over my head, but there is enough that I can understand that kept my interest throughout. Even so, after a while, I could really grasp some of the deeper analytical concepts he discusses, because his writing is so lucid and not overburdened with specialist terms.

The modern-day renku enthusiast will undoubtedly find much of value in this study. It is superbly well-written, with relatively few typos (I caught a couple, H. G. Henderson's 1934 book on haiku titled "Bamboo Broom" was mistakenly referenced as "Bamboo Room"). But these trivial peccadilloes do not detract from the achievement of this book, a major contribution to Western understanding of the haikai poetry of Basho and his time.
10 people found this helpful
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William J. Higginson
5.0 out of 5 stars Basho in His Time
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2000
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) is certainly the best-known haiku poet of all time, even though he never heard the word "haiku". What he did do, in his own time, was (a) write and teach the writing of "haikai no renga", the popular style of linked, collaborative poetry of his time, (b) collect the largest number of followers (or "disciples") of any poet of his day, (c) write a number of short prose pieces with short verses he called hokku (haibun), (d) write a number of independent hokku (which we now call "haiku"), and (e) write several travel diaries, the last of which, "Narrow Road of the Interior" goes by a number of titles in English and is one of the great masterpieces of world literature.
You can find out about all this from other books. However, in Professor Shirane's book, you will find out more: Basho was not the only person doing these things during his lifetime. And although nobody is likely to say that Basho was not the most important poet of his day, he was definitely influenced in all his work by the trends of the time. When funny verses were the vogue, early in his career, he wrote funny verses. When Chinese poetry became a major influence on the poetry scene, his writings reflected his own rich knowledge of that Chinese heritage. When other poets started advocating a "lighter" style, more directly concerned with the things of daily life, Basho took up "lightness" as an important element of his art.
Basho's uniqueness does not lie in his unique type of poetry, but in his great ability to ride the wave of fashion in a common type of poetry and make something rich and lasting from it. By placing Basho and his work--with many fine translations--in the context of his own day and his own culture, Prof. Shirane gives us a deeper, richer Basho than we knew before. And, he helps us grasp some basics of Japanese culture, and of haiku, that we probably missed in other books on the subject.
58 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Skylar Kay
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on April 9, 2018
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One of the most useful books for my thesis, and a very interesting read
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a sweet machine
5.0 out of 5 stars "Awakening to the high, returning to the low."
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2015
Verified Purchase
Traces of Dreams provides valuable cultural and literary context for a reading of Basho, the legendary 17th century Japanese short-form poet. The focus is on traditional haikai and renga rather than haiku, which is seen as more an outcome of Japanese relations with the West around the end of the 19th century.

Shirane leads the reader through all the main haiku themes; cutting, juxtaposition, seasonal associations, cultural and landscape references, and also touches on the nature of haikai language itself; how Basho gave direction to a new genre by melding classic Chinese-influenced literature with a contemporary language more familiar to the everyday merchants and tradespeople of Edo and Kyoto at the time.

Shirane takes pains to normalise Basho. Yes, we have the traditional image of a man dedicated to his art, but we are also shown someone who, rather than collect ‘disciples’ in some sort of pseudo-religious effort, did not shy away from discarding writers who “no longer fit into [his] new poetic movement.” Narrow Road to the Deep North is presented as, and demonstrated to be, a work of literary fiction rather than an autobiographical travel journal. Basho becomes an experimenter, someone who actively sought to “discover new worlds and perspectives, especially those opposed to convention, tradition and the ordinary.”

In Shirane’s own words, “the result was a literature that was multi-voiced, profoundly paradoxical in tone and nature and in ideological implication - transgressive yet traditional, spiritual yet mundane.” Traces of Dreams is highly recommended to practitioners of haiku and haiku-related genres. Five stars.
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ganga
1.0 out of 5 stars caveat emptor - this book is not as stated by Amazon
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
Buyer beware, indeed. This book is not as described by Amazon. This version is actually published by the University of Chicago Books, and is a short-run digital printing/print on demand book; not the "original" Stanford University Press publication. The print quality of cover and contents is dismal, rendering images all but useless. It is a rather nasty object.
Yes, the contents are probably as indicated in the Amazon/Book Depository description, though even this is in doubt as this version has 382 pages not the 397 in the product details.
Shoddy, Amazon...
5 people found this helpful
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