| A discussion of the poetry of Izumi Shikibu, a court woman of eleventh-century Japan---with an introductory consideration of the poetry of the Comtessa Beatrix de Dia, a woman troubadour (trobairitz) of twelfth-century France. In a close reading and analysis of selected waka from the Izumi Shikibu Diary and shu (poetry collection), my study de-mystifies the legends and speculations that surround the poet's name and concentrates on what she wrote rather than what has been written about her. Recovering the voice/voices in the poems, I rediscover Izumi Shikibu not only as a writer who helped to shape literary language and set enduring poetic standards, but also as a poet who reflects in a personal and subjective way upon love, spirituality, and the teachings and practices of Buddhism. Following an introductory discussion of subjectivity, I work inductively from a textual analysis of Izumi Shikibu's poetry to show how scrutiny of the poems for their inflections in classical Japanese reveals a subtlety of tone and a freedom of syntax that is impossible to convey in any single translation. More than one translation will be given for many of the poems. My reading also focuses on poetic technique--- kakekotoba (pivot word) and engo (associative word), both of which in different ways lend depth and intensity to a poem's meaning, as well as makurakotoba (pillow word), joshi (preface), and utamakura (literally, "poem pillows"). I then place certain poems in the context of the Izumi Shikibu Diary, c. 1007. Through a discussion of language, marriage custom, and court aesthetics, I situate the poet and her writing within the social and historical context of the Heian period. Finally, I read specific poems from the Izumi Shikibu shu for the religious and spiritual values they reflect. I contribute to the scholarship of Heian literature in the areas of classical waka, court women's subjectivity, the comparative study of courtly cultures, women in Buddhism, and Buddhist poetry and aesthetics. I show specifically that contrary to orthodox critical interpretation Izumi Shikibu expresses various levels of subjectivity to define herself ethically and spiritually in her poems. |
