Theorizing The Anthology: Waka Contexts And Their Afterlives

Date of Award

Spring 1-1-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

East Asian Languages and Literatures

First Advisor

Kamens, Edward

Abstract

This dissertation develops a conceptual framework to study anthological form from the context of Japanese literature and material culture. It begins with a new structural interpretation of the Kokin wakashū (c. 905), an anthology afforded foundational status in Japanese literary history, and introduces the concepts of the anthologized unit, unit macrostructures, and a sense of holism as key tools to study anthological form. It argues that anthological form is inherently generative because of its nested relational structure and demonstrates this in how the form of the Kokinshū instructs its reader in juxtaposition and labelling as means of generating new meaning. It also suggests that the prolific production of vernacular poetry anthologies in the Heian to Kamakura periods (794-1333) might be understood in terms of the development of discourse through these methods. The dissertation then shifts to Edo period (1603-1868) kohitsu tekagami albums to explore the uses of anthological form beyond the literary medium. It describes how these albums curated historical narratives and identities through the assemblage and labeling of old manuscript fragments and argues that a formalist conception of the albums can assist their study in the context of the broader body of Edo period tekagami albums, which had a variety of contents and aims. Finally, a coda outlines how the author’s framework of anthological form may assist the study of yet another medium of cultural assemblage, that of Edo-period harimaze screens.

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