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Literary and Art Theories in Japan (Volume 6)
Literary and Art Theories in Japan surveys thirteen major aestheticians to uncover what remained important over the course of Japanese history. Rather than take a comprehensive descriptive approach, Makoto Ueda focuses on views of the essential nature of literature and art, considering how people answered questions such as “How does art differ from life?” or “What is the use of art?” or “Can art ever become a religion?”
Literary and Art Theories helps readers gain a deeper understanding of Japanese literature and art. By learning about the philosophies of art in Japan, readers come to know the aims and methods with which the Japanese produced paintings, music, plays, novels and poems. As it happens, many of the major Japanese aestheticians were also great artists, so the person who carefully examines their theories of art will be rewarded with a glimpse into the secret of their creative achievements too.
Ueda’s examination of Japanese aesthetic ideas also contributes to an international definition of art. Attempts to answer the questions “What is art?” or “What is literature?” are nearly always formulated within a single cultural tradition, but a definition of art that makes any claim to universality must be applicable to all traditions. Japanese theories of art, which developed independently of Western culture, provide a touchstone by which to test the universal validity of a Western aesthetic concept.
Literary and Art Theories helps readers gain a deeper understanding of Japanese literature and art. By learning about the philosophies of art in Japan, readers come to know the aims and methods with which the Japanese produced paintings, music, plays, novels and poems. As it happens, many of the major Japanese aestheticians were also great artists, so the person who carefully examines their theories of art will be rewarded with a glimpse into the secret of their creative achievements too.
Ueda’s examination of Japanese aesthetic ideas also contributes to an international definition of art. Attempts to answer the questions “What is art?” or “What is literature?” are nearly always formulated within a single cultural tradition, but a definition of art that makes any claim to universality must be applicable to all traditions. Japanese theories of art, which developed independently of Western culture, provide a touchstone by which to test the universal validity of a Western aesthetic concept.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
51 people want to read
About the author
Makoto Ueda
41 books19 followersMakoto Ueda (上田 真 Ueda Makoto, born 1931) is a professor emeritus of Japanese literature at Stanford University.
He earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1961.
In 2004-2005 he served as the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento, California. He was given that honor "in recognition of Ueda’s many decades of academic writing about haiku and related genres and his leading translations of Japanese haiku." The library added that "Ueda has been our most consistently useful source for information on Japanese haiku, as well as our finest source for the poems in translation, from Bashô to the present day." His work on female poets and 20th century poets "had an enormous impact".
He is an author of numerous books about Japanese literature and in particular Haiku, Senryū, Tanka, and Japanese poetics.
(from Wikipedia)
He earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1961.
In 2004-2005 he served as the honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library in Sacramento, California. He was given that honor "in recognition of Ueda’s many decades of academic writing about haiku and related genres and his leading translations of Japanese haiku." The library added that "Ueda has been our most consistently useful source for information on Japanese haiku, as well as our finest source for the poems in translation, from Bashô to the present day." His work on female poets and 20th century poets "had an enormous impact".
He is an author of numerous books about Japanese literature and in particular Haiku, Senryū, Tanka, and Japanese poetics.
(from Wikipedia)
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August 21, 2020
I first read this wonderful book when I was studying with Professor Ueda, a gentle, kind, erudite man. I'm rereading it now, more than fifty years later. It's a complete delight, moving and inspiring. In these troubling days, it also offers a respite from everyday stress, something like the world apart that he describes in relation to the tea ceremony or the composition of haiku. At the same time, it provides insights into traditional Japanese aesthetics that still seem fresh and stimulating after all these years.
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