Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan

Research output: Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook

Abstract

Waka poetry was all the rage in tenth-century, courtly Japan. Every educated person composed it, emperors and consorts sponsored it, and societal interest in it was at an all-time high. Persiani’s book offers an unprecedentedly broad and vivid portrayal of this season of literary flourishing, revealing the multitude of factors that contributed to it, as well as the social, political, and cultural reasons behind waka’s rise. Deftly combining sociological theory and social and intellectual history with insightful readings of a wealth of primary texts—some never before discussed in English—the book is both a history of waka in the Heian period and a study of Heian court society through the lens of waka.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Place of PublicationLeiden and Boston
PublisherBrill
ISBN (Electronic)9789004742161
ISBN (Print)9789004735583
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 28 2025

Publication series

NameBrill's Japanese Studies Library
Volume81
ISSN (Print)0925-6512

Keywords

  • Court and coterie culture
  • sociology of art
  • Audience reception
  • literary field
  • Bourdieu's field theory
  • art world
  • waka poetry
  • medieval literature
  • Japanese court
  • Japanese literature

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Poets, Patrons, and the Public: Poetry as Cultural Phenomenon in Courtly Japan'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this