How a Medieval Monk-Poet (Saigyô) and Japan became identified with ‘Nature’

Sugimoto, Mike 2017. How a Medieval Monk-Poet (Saigyô) and Japan became identified with ‘Nature’. Asian Literature and Translation (ALT) 4 (1) , pp. 73-95. 10.18573/j.2017.10130

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Abstract

Japan and, more specifically, the celebrated early medieval monk-poet Saigyô have long been associated with properties of ‘nature’. From Ruth Benedict’s postwar work of anthropology The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, to earlier appropriations by nineteenth-century artists of Japonisme, to greenways lined with cherry trees, Japan as nature has been a powerful cultural cliché. This paper traces the misidentification of a key poet, Saigyô, with the qualities of nature, and argues that this rendering of Japanese culture is an ideologically invested part of Orientalism.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PL Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Japan, Saigyo, Japanese Poetry, Asian Literature, Orientalism
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2051-5863
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	6 April 2017
Date of Acceptance:	1 February 2017
Last Modified:	07 May 2023 05:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/99680

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