- 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
Incomprehensibility
Incomprehensibility
- Chapter:
- (p.93) Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility
- Source:
- Murmured Conversations
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
In waka, there is a type of verse called mushin shojaku, which literally means “not to be grasped by the mind,” that is, incomprehensible. It is a technical term derived from kambun syntax and it describes a poem or verse whose lines do not cohere into a total meaning due to the absence of a logical connection running through them. As a reflection of incomprehensibility, the term mushin shojaku appears as early as the Man'yōshū but also occurs in a passage from the Mumyōshō, within the context of a section that deals with mediocre poets who try to imitate the great ones. It is not clear what Shinkei really thought of mushin shojaku because he does not overtly condemn it in this chapter. He simply notes that the phenomenon exists in renga, like it does in waka, and gives two illustrations without comment. Nevertheless, Shinkei abhors vulgarity as a manifestation of a lack of sensibility.
Keywords: waka, renga, Japanese poetry, Shinkei, incomprehensibility, vulgarity, mushin shojaku, kambun, Man'yōshū, Mumyōshō
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- 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
