A Study on the Proper Nouns in the Kotobagaki of the Poems of the Four Seasons in Kokinwakashu: A Fragment of the Characteristics of the Kotobagaki of Kokinwakashu

Mizutani, Takashi

doi:10.21481/jbunka..78.201808.187

Journal of Japanese Culture

2018, (78), pp.187-208
DOI : 10.21481/jbunka..78.201808.187
Publisher : The Japanese Culture Association Of Korea (Jcak)
Research Area : Japanese Language and Literature

Mizutani, Takashi ¹

¹武庫川女子大

ABSTRACT

The kotobagaki (prefatory prose statements) for the 31-syllable Japanese poems of the four seasons in Kokinwakashu contain a lot of proper nouns, some of which seem to be unrelated to comprehending the meaning of the poems themselves. These proper nouns can be divided into two groups: utamakura (place names with allegorical resonance) and the names of the royal family members or places in the court. With utamakura, there are a lot of cases where the poets compose poems not only by directly observing scenery but also by imagining the scenery without actually going there. Utamakura were used in the kotobagaki for the poems of the four seasons to indicate whether the poet actually viewed a scene or created it from imagination, and it is supposed that readers of Kokinwakashu gained a greater appreciation for the poems knowing whether they depicted actual or imaginary scenes. However, no such enhanced appreciation comes from including the names of royal family members and places in the court it is supposed surmise that the editors of Kokinwakashu wrote kotobagaki asaway of reporting to the Throne in order to inform the emperor, the first reader of Kokinwakashu, whether a poem concerned the emperor—even if such information was not necessary to understand the poem.
KEYWORDS

KokinWakasyu, Waka in the four seasons, kotobagaki, Proper noun, Utamakura
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