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Japanese Tales from Times Past

Stories of Fantasy and Folklore from the Konjaku Monogatari Shu (90 Stories Included)

Author: Naoshi Koriyama, Bruce Allen and Karen Thornber  

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Stories of Fantasy and Folklore from the Konjaku Monogatari Shu.

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Summary

Stories of Fantasy and Folklore from the Konjaku Monogatari Shu.

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Description

The most famous work in all of Japanese classical literature, the KonjakuMonogatari Shu is as integral a part of its nation's culture as Canterbury Talesand The Inferno are of ours. In Japanese Tales from Times Past, the editors andtranslators have winnowed down this massive cycle of traditional folklore fromthe original's 1,039 stories to ninety powerfully entertaining tales that are widelyregarded as literary masterpieces of lasting interest to both general and scholarlyreaders. These stories are filled with keen psychological insights, wry sarcasm, andscarcely veiled criticisms of the clergy, nobles, and peasants alike, suggestingthat there are, among all classes and peoples, similar failings of pride, vanity,superstition and greed—as well as aspirations toward higher moral goals.Japanese Tales from Times Past marks the first time such a large selection hasbeen translated and published for an English-reading audience. In theirenlightening introduction, the editors highlight how many of the era's mostpressing social concerns—including the teaching of Buddhism, attitudes towardenvironmental ecology, and feminism—are still deeply relevant today.

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Critic Reviews

“"These masterful, elegant translations of ninety extraordinary tales from the Konjaku monogatari shuuone of the most valued works of classical Japanese literatureucontribute significantly to our understandings of premodern Japanese culture and religion. They also give us an unprecedented glimpse into the daily lives of early Japan's common people, those obscured in the Tale of Genji and other celebrated classics. Most significant in our age of ecological crisis, the Konjaku tales, referencing major ecological transformations of the Japanese countryside, reveal the tensions between religion's spiritual callings to preserve nature and the human need to hunt, fish, and farm to survive." - Karen Thornber, Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, author of Ecoambiguity”

"Naoshi Koriyama and Bruce Allen have repackaged Konjaku Monogatari Shu in a way that both retains the compelling sense of history in these ancient tales and vivifies their relevance to human experience in the twenty-first century. Through well told and carefully translated stories, we become more conscious of who we are and our intricate relationships to the world." --Scott Slovic, University of Idaho, USA, editor, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment
"These masterful, elegant translations of ninety extraordinary tales from the Konjaku Monogatari Shu--one of the most valued works of classical Japanese literature--contribute significantly to our understandings of premodern Japanese culture and religion. They also give us an unprecedented glimpse into the daily lives of early Japan's common people, those obscured in the Tale of Genji and other celebrated classics. Most significant in our age of ecological crisis, the Konjaku tales, referencing major ecological transformations of the Japanese countryside, reveal the tensions between religion's spiritual callings to preserve nature and the human need to hunt, fish, and farm to survive." --Karen Thornber, Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, author of Ecoambiguity

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About the Author

Naoshi Koriyama taught at Toyo University in Tokyo from 1961-1997 and is professor emeritus. He is the translator of Like Underground Water: The Poetry of Mid-Twentieth Century Japan and numerous other books of verse.

Bruce Allen is Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Seisen University in Tokyo. He has translated several of the works of Japanese writer Ishimure Michiko, including her novel Lake of Heaven.

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More on this Book

The most famous work in all of Japanese classical literature, the KonjakuMonogatari Shu is as integral a part of its nation's culture as Canterbury Talesand The Inferno are of ours. In Japanese Tales from Times Past , the editors andtranslators have winnowed down this massive cycle of traditional folklore fromthe original's 1,039 stories to ninety powerfully entertaining tales that are widelyregarded as literary masterpieces of lasting interest to both general and scholarlyreaders. These stories are filled with keen psychological insights, wry sarcasm, andscarcely veiled criticisms of the clergy, nobles, and peasants alike, suggestingthat there are, among all classes and peoples, similar failings of pride, vanity,superstition and greed--as well as aspirations toward higher moral goals. Japanese Tales from Times Past marks the first time such a large selection hasbeen translated and published for an English-reading audience. In theirenlightening introduction, the editors highlight how many of the era's mostpressing social concerns--including the teaching of Buddhism, attitudes towardenvironmental ecology, and feminism--are still deeply relevant today.

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Tuttle Publishing
Published
4th August 2015
Pages
288
ISBN
9784805313411

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RRP $28.00
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