2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Ancient Japanese Waka and songs of Amami and Okinawa islands - a Comparative Study
| Project/Area Number |
15520126
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Japanese literature
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
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Principal Investigator |
MASHIMO Atsushi Ritsumeikan University, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (50209425)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2005
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| Keywords | Ancient Japanese Waka / Songs of Amami and Okinawa islands / Comparative Study |
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| Research Abstract |
Ancient Japanese waka was always recited aloud, even when its creator or reader was alone. It was naturally so before people began to write waka on paper, and so it was after. The oral aspect is thus extremely important for an understanding of how waka - a predominantly oral art - was created and then passed down from generation to generation. Still, due to the fact that research on waka was mainly based on ancient manuscripts, the oral aspect has been largely neglected.
This paper will address this problem by combining the findings of research on both written texts and on oral tradition. Based on ethnographical study of songs of Amami and Okinawa Islands, it will construct a theory explaining how these songs are created and then transmitted within the community. Finally, the author will use a comparative method to address the problem of ancient Japanese waka.
The subject of the first section, "Life and works of Ohara no Imaki" is the son of Sakurai no Okimi - one of creators of Man'yoshu. Ohara was noted for his poetic ability to compose waka during banquets, and recite numerous waka which were composed before his time. It should be stressed that such ability was most probably embodied at an early age.
The second section, "The Life Histories of "Utasha" : An Ethnography of Songs in the Amami Islands", will analyze the life histories of Amami Islands singers and discuss the process by which they master and embody their art. It will be argued that this process is directly linked to the ways in which waka poets learned waka in ancient times.
The third section, "Tubarama - songs and singers of Yaeyama Islands", discusses the methods of song composition of tubarama and also the problem of singers' individuality. This discussion is also linked to ancient waka.
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[Book] 万葉歌生成論2004
Author(s)
真下厚
Total Pages
398
Publisher
三弥井書店
Description
「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
