Utamakura
Encyclopedia
is a rhetoric
al concept in Japanese poetry
.
s and intertextuality
across Japanese poems.
Utamakura includes locations familiar to the court of ancient Japan, such as
Some scholars see the use of geographical allusion as the evidence for a restricted scope of poetry writing. Although the poets' "true" meaning was true because the essence was initially pre-established, the poems were written within fixed topics (dai). The poet could inhabit a subjective position or persona and write about the topic, but not necessarily about his/her personal feelings. Utamakura could have suppressed poets' individuality or creativity.
, by the poet and monk of the late Heian period, and lists of places in the Utamakura Nayose (Utamakura reference book).
Utamakura were first used by traveling priests. These priests collected stories from the different towns they traveled to. Since they traveled many places, it was easier to remember the details of a story by using a single, consistent reference point for each recurring type of event that occurred in their tales. Over time, the people across the Japan came to identify utamakura place names by the psychological feelings associated with the references made by the wandering priests.
After utamakura place names and people had become well established, eager waka poets went sightseeing to the sites of utamakura. Beyond becoming familiar with the actual scenery of the poems, entering the locale of a poem or story deepened one's understanding of it.
Utamakura was also used in renga
, a form of Japanese collaborative poetry that is the ancestor of renku and haiku
poetry.
-Anonymous, translation by Lewis Cook
In the poem above, Yoshino
refers to a place in the Yamato region
in the vicinity of the capital. Yoshino is known for having both heavy snowfall and an abundance of cherry blossoms.
Poem #1 in "Spring 1" of Shin Kokin Wakashū also uses Yoshino for depicting the beginning of spring:
-The Regent Prime Minister, translation by Lewis Cook
Another instance of poetic place-name comes from Tales of Ise, a piece entitled "In the Provinces (#15)."
- Translation by Jamie Newhard and Lewis Cook
Mount Shinobu is a pun on the verb shinobu, meaning "to conceal," "endure," "long for," and "remember."
For example, the Tatsuta River is famous for its red autumn maples. Therefore, a menu that includes tatsuta age will consist of crispy fish or chicken that was marinated in soy sauce before it was dredged in cornstarch and deep fried. The cornstarch coating absorbs some of the soy, so that when it is fried it takes on a burnished, russet color.
In Dante
's Inferno (Canto VII, line 106) we see an example of Japanese utamakura, or poetic place name, in reference to the river Styx
.
A lake is form'd, the Stygian name of old
By this sad stream, when downward it had run
Neath the gray rocks that nem the baleful hold.
The adjective, Stygian, means "of or relating to the River Styx". In Ancient Greek literature
, the River Styx forms the boundary between Earth and Hades
, the Underworld.
In contemporary Western cultures, parallels to the Japanese utamakura can be found in many popular songs. Musical artists use place names in their lyrics to invoke certain conformed thoughts associated with the sites mentioned by the musician. California is a common reference for many artists in that it invokes thoughts of excess, splendor, wealth, and a sense of fakeness in body and spirit. Weezer
references the excessiveness of Beverly Hills in their hit song "Beverly Hills", while the Red Hot Chili Peppers
refer to the sense of things not being "real" in their song "Californication" by including lyrics about plastic surgery and the use of Hollywood sets in government conspiracy.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al concept in Japanese poetry
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
.
Definition
Utamakura is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusionAllusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
s and intertextuality
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined...
across Japanese poems.
Utamakura includes locations familiar to the court of ancient Japan, such as
- particularly sacred ShintoShintoor Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
and BuddhistBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
sites, - places where historic events occurred, and
- places that trigger a separate mental association through a pun.
Aesthetic Function
Utamakura serve as a significant tool to achieve yugen (mystery and depth) in Japanese poetry by adding profundity and indirect beauty in poems. Also, it can be used as a source for identifying significant figures and places in ancient Japan. Utamakura enables poets to express ideas and themes concisely and thus allowing them to stay within the confines of strict waka structures.Some scholars see the use of geographical allusion as the evidence for a restricted scope of poetry writing. Although the poets' "true" meaning was true because the essence was initially pre-established, the poems were written within fixed topics (dai). The poet could inhabit a subjective position or persona and write about the topic, but not necessarily about his/her personal feelings. Utamakura could have suppressed poets' individuality or creativity.
History
The history of utamakura is found in documents on the study of poetry such as the Utamakura of NoinNoin
Nōin 能因 . Japanese poet and monk of the late Heian period. Lay name: Tachibana no Nagayasu 橘永愷. Along with Izumi Shikibu, Nōin is one of "Thirty-six Medieval Poetry Immortals" of waka poetry selected by Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 ....
, by the poet and monk of the late Heian period, and lists of places in the Utamakura Nayose (Utamakura reference book).
Utamakura were first used by traveling priests. These priests collected stories from the different towns they traveled to. Since they traveled many places, it was easier to remember the details of a story by using a single, consistent reference point for each recurring type of event that occurred in their tales. Over time, the people across the Japan came to identify utamakura place names by the psychological feelings associated with the references made by the wandering priests.
After utamakura place names and people had become well established, eager waka poets went sightseeing to the sites of utamakura. Beyond becoming familiar with the actual scenery of the poems, entering the locale of a poem or story deepened one's understanding of it.
Utamakura was also used in renga
Renga
' is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry. A renga consists of at least two or stanzas, usually many more. The opening stanza of the renga, called the , became the basis for the modern haiku form of poetry....
, a form of Japanese collaborative poetry that is the ancestor of renku and haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
poetry.
Examples of Utamakura
There are numerous instances of utamakura in Japanese literature, one of which is the Kokinshū. The source of this particular utamakura example is poem #3 in the "Spring" section of the Kokinshū.- harugasami
- tateru ya izuko
- Miyoshino no
- Yoshino no yama ni
- yuki wa furitsutsu
-
- Where are the promised
- mists of spring?
- In Yoshino, fair hills
- of Yoshino, snow
- falling still.
-Anonymous, translation by Lewis Cook
In the poem above, Yoshino
Yoshino, Nara
is a town located in Yoshino District, Nara Prefecture, Japan.As of September 1, 2007, the town had an estimated population of 9397 and a density of 97.93 persons per km². The total area was 95.65 km².-Geography:...
refers to a place in the Yamato region
Yamato Province
was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. It was also called . At first, the name was written with one different character , and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters . The final revision was made in...
in the vicinity of the capital. Yoshino is known for having both heavy snowfall and an abundance of cherry blossoms.
Poem #1 in "Spring 1" of Shin Kokin Wakashū also uses Yoshino for depicting the beginning of spring:
- Miyoshino wa
- yama mo kasumite
- shirayuki no
- furinishi sato ni
- haru wa kinikeri
-
- Fair Yoshino, mountains
- now wrapped in mist:
- to the village where snow
- was falling
- spring has come.
-The Regent Prime Minister, translation by Lewis Cook
Another instance of poetic place-name comes from Tales of Ise, a piece entitled "In the Provinces (#15)."
- Shinobuyama
- shinobite kayou
- michi mogana
- hito no kokoro no
- oku mo miru beku
-
- I long to find a path
- to the depths of Mount Shinobu
- that I might fathom
- the secrets
- of another's heart.
- Translation by Jamie Newhard and Lewis Cook
Mount Shinobu is a pun on the verb shinobu, meaning "to conceal," "endure," "long for," and "remember."
Contemporary Examples of Utamakura
Today in Japan you can find many examples of utamakura in every day readings. Often, restaurant menu items will be named after their visual appearance with a reference to a well-known Japanese scenic area.For example, the Tatsuta River is famous for its red autumn maples. Therefore, a menu that includes tatsuta age will consist of crispy fish or chicken that was marinated in soy sauce before it was dredged in cornstarch and deep fried. The cornstarch coating absorbs some of the soy, so that when it is fried it takes on a burnished, russet color.
Parallels in Other Cultures
Utamakura can be described as "descriptive epithets" or "circumlocutions designating geographical sites" in poetry of other languages that conjure a memory, thought, image or association with the place referred to.In Dante
Dante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
's Inferno (Canto VII, line 106) we see an example of Japanese utamakura, or poetic place name, in reference to the river Styx
Styx
In Greek mythology the Styx is the river that forms the boundary between the underworld and the world of the living, as well as a goddess and a nymph that represents the river.Styx may also refer to:-Popular culture:...
.
A lake is form'd, the Stygian name of old
By this sad stream, when downward it had run
Neath the gray rocks that nem the baleful hold.
The adjective, Stygian, means "of or relating to the River Styx". In Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature
Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in the Ancient Greek language until the 4th century.- Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity :...
, the River Styx forms the boundary between Earth and Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
, the Underworld.
In contemporary Western cultures, parallels to the Japanese utamakura can be found in many popular songs. Musical artists use place names in their lyrics to invoke certain conformed thoughts associated with the sites mentioned by the musician. California is a common reference for many artists in that it invokes thoughts of excess, splendor, wealth, and a sense of fakeness in body and spirit. Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
references the excessiveness of Beverly Hills in their hit song "Beverly Hills", while the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
refer to the sense of things not being "real" in their song "Californication" by including lyrics about plastic surgery and the use of Hollywood sets in government conspiracy.
Sources
- http://www.bento.com/taste/tc-name.html
- Kamens, Edward. Utamakura, Allusion, and Intertextuality in Traditional Japanese Poetry. Yale University Press, 19971997 in literatureThe year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
. ISBN 0-300-06808-5
- Raud, Rein, “The Lover’s Subject: Its Construction and Relativization in the Poetry of the Heian Period”.
- Shirane, Haruo (editor). Traditional Japanese Literature.Columbia University Press: New York, 2007.
- Wright, Ichabod C (Translator). The Inferno of Dante.Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman: London, 1833.