Man'yőshű and the imperial imagination in early Japan / / by Torquil Duthie.

• Superior document: Brill's Japanese Studies Library, Volume 45
• Author: Duthie, Torquil.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : Brill,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's Japanese studies library ; v. 45.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (463 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

In Man’yōshū and the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan , Torquil Duthie examines the literary representation of the late seventh-century Yamato court as a realm of \'all under heaven.” Through close readings of the early volumes of the poetic anthology Man’yōshū (c. eighth century) and the last volumes of the official history Nihon shoki (c. 720), Duthie shows how competing political interests and different styles of representation produced not a unified ideology, but rather a “bundle” of disparate imperial imaginaries collected around the figure of the imperial sovereign. Central to this process was the creation of a tradition of vernacular poetry in which Yamato courtiers could participate and recognize themselves as the cultured officials of the new imperial realm.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Chronology of Major Events in the Nihon Shoki and Shoku Nihongi Narratives -- 1 Yamato as Empire in the Sinoscript Sphere -- 2 The National Imaginings of Early Japan -- 3 The Imperial Configuration of Nihon -- 4 Imperial Historiography and the Narrative Politics of the Jinshin Rebellion -- 5 Poetry Anthology as Imperial History -- 6 The Voice of All under Heaven -- 7 Tenmu and the Yoshino Cult -- 8 The Tenmu Myth of Heavenly Descent -- 9 The Memory of the Ōmi Capital -- 10 The Fujiwara Sovereign -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.