Mad in Translation : A thousand years of kyoka, comic japanese poetry in the classic waka Mode

by Gill, Robin D.

• ISBN13: 9780974261874
• ISBN10: 0974261874
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-30
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

This is the first book to translate a broad spectrum of the informal, improper and generally comic side of 31-syllable Japanese poetry called 'kyoka,¿ or 'kyouka,¿ literally, ¿mad-poems¿ or ¿madcap verse,¿ representing ¿absolute freedom both in respect of language and choice of subject.¿ (Aston: 1899) Literary anthologies have published only a handful of translations and the lion¿s share of kyoka Englished to date are the rather tame variety found on early-19c color prints called 'surimono,¿ published as catalogues. Because of the narrow focus of most kyoka-related publishing in Japan, even specialists in Japanese literature may be surprised to discover in this book a brave old world of humor, far larger and more entertaining than anything they might have imagined. The 2000 poems in Robin D. Gill¿s 740-page book include hundreds of ¿wild waka¿ ('waka¿ being the formal side of 31-syllable poetry) to help define the field and demonstrate how the presence or absence of humor depends upon our expectations and, in the case of an exotic tongue, our translation. ¿Mad In Translation¿ re-creates the wit of the originals in English on the one hand, while explaining what is specific to Japanese on the other. Many poems will delight those who appreciate the best epigrams of the metaphysical poets, the grooks of Piet Hein and all that might be called 'light verse for egg-heads.¿