- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
-
One Prologue -
Two Renga History -
Three On the Tsukubashū -
Four Post-Shinkokinshū Waka -
Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga -
Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters -
Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (Yūgen) -
Eight Learning and the Study of Renga -
Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training -
Ten On Hokku -
Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry -
Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry -
Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality -
Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation -
Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination -
Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet -
Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way -
Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind -
Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value -
Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline -
Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion -
Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration -
Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations -
Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master -
Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive -
Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure -
Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry -
Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse -
Twenty-Nine Plagiarism -
Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect -
Thirty-One Semantic Confusion -
Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility -
Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link -
Thirty-Four On Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū as the Structure of the Renga Link -
Thirty-Five On Rikugi: -
Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism -
Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga -
Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age -
Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time - Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Chapter:
- (p.73) Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
Shinkei argues that unless the poet has a profound understanding of the Way, he is incapable of making a criticism of superior work. In this chapter, he insists that mere competence or skill (jōzu, tassha) is different from a keen perceptivity. This view is related to his statement in Sasamegoto II that understanding and appreciating someone else's verse is more difficult than to compose one's own. The importance of perceptivity over and above execution reflects the central role of kokoro in his poetics. For the poet who possesses the requisite technical competence, the quality of his mind as it relates to the external universe in the act of composition determines the quality of the verse or poem. The poet with a keener and more profound mind will be able to compose a better poem. Shinkei's emphasis on perceptivity is intimately linked to the unique character of poetic composition in renga.
Keywords: Shinkei, Japanese poetry, criticism, perceptivity, renga, kokoro, Sasamegoto, poetic composition
Stanford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
-
One Prologue -
Two Renga History -
Three On the Tsukubashū -
Four Post-Shinkokinshū Waka -
Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga -
Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters -
Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (Yūgen) -
Eight Learning and the Study of Renga -
Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training -
Ten On Hokku -
Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry -
Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry -
Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality -
Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation -
Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination -
Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet -
Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way -
Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind -
Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value -
Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline -
Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion -
Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration -
Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations -
Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master -
Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive -
Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure -
Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry -
Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse -
Twenty-Nine Plagiarism -
Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect -
Thirty-One Semantic Confusion -
Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility -
Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link -
Thirty-Four On Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū as the Structure of the Renga Link -
Thirty-Five On Rikugi: -
Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism -
Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga -
Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age -
Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time - Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index