<p>The dissertation is a study of the poetics of haikai in eighteenth-century Japan. It is more specifically concerned with the works of Yosa Buson and some of his followers. Rather than being a study of certain poems, it is an investigation of theories of aesthetics and composition, and of criticism. Most studies of haikai focus on the short haiku (or hokku) form, but the present study is more concerned with the core form of this poetry, the long chains of verses called "renku" or "haikai no renga".</p><p>One important object of this study is to challenge some of the established views of haikai found in modern scholarship. For this purpose, many standpoints of haikai theory have been found useful, since they often approach questions of interpretation from new and unexpected angles. Theoretical stances that stress convention and traditionalism are criticized and the spirit of haikai is found to be more in concord with theories of cognitive poetics.</p><p>The dissertation consists of three parts. The first is a study of general haikai theory. In this part are discussed theories of aesthetics, theories of creativity, and a few questions related to the interpretation of this kind of poetry. This discussion focuses on those questions that are central in Buson’s own writing on poetics and puts them into a broader context.</p><p>The second part deals with practical theories of renku composing. An introductory chapter gives a historical background to many concepts used in Buson’s age, and this is followed by a full translation and critical study of a renku treatise written by his disciple Takai Kitō.</p><p>The last part is an investigation of modern criticism written on Buson’s renku. All existing full-length studies of these poems are discussed in comparison. The absence of a long critical tradition concerning Buson’s renku has, in many cases, prevented the formation of established interpretations, and this is ideal for a study of this kind.</p>

The dissertation is a study of the poetics of haikai in eighteenth-century Japan. It is more specifically concerned with the works of Yosa Buson and some of his followers. Rather than being a study of certain poems, it is an investigation of theories of aesthetics and composition, and of criticism. Most studies of haikai focus on the short haiku (or hokku) form, but the present study is more concerned with the core form of this poetry, the long chains of verses called "renku" or "haikai no renga". One important object of this study is to challenge some of the established views of haikai found in modern scholarship. For this purpose, many standpoints of haikai theory have been found useful, since they often approach questions of interpretation from new and unexpected angles. Theoretical stances that stress convention and traditionalism are criticized and the spirit of haikai is found to be more in concord with theories of cognitive poetics. The dissertation consists of three parts. The first is a study of general haikai theory. In this part are discussed theories of aesthetics, theories of creativity, and a few questions related to the interpretation of this kind of poetry. This discussion focuses on those questions that are central in Buson’s own writing on poetics and puts them into a broader context. The second part deals with practical theories of renku composing. An introductory chapter gives a historical background to many concepts used in Buson’s age, and this is followed by a full translation and critical study of a renku treatise written by his disciple Takai Kitō. The last part is an investigation of modern criticism written on Buson’s renku. All existing full-length studies of these poems are discussed in comparison. The absence of a long critical tradition concerning Buson’s renku has, in many cases, prevented the formation of established interpretations, and this is ideal for a study of this kind.

The dominant part of the research on the “Yûgao” (The Twilight Beauty) story of the Japanese eleventh-century classic the Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) is philological and often excludes a general literary analysis. This story has also been related to Japanese and Chinese literary influences, thereby placing the text in its literary context. The present study is an attempt to relate it more to theories to which it has hitherto been unrelated and thereby formulate a descriptive stylistics in a decontextual perspective. This aim also includes a look at how the theories confronted with the “Yûgao” story may be affected. First I introduce the problematics of context versus decontext by means of a survey of metapoetical texts about the monogatari (tale, narrative) genre with special regard to the Genji Monogatari. Next I analyze the characters and the setting, primarily using a narratological method. This is followed by an analysis of the story’s themes and motives. Chapter 5 looks at compositional elements, while the starting-point for the succeeding chapter is the interpretation of the “Yûgao” story as more or less a fairytale, and thus not as advanced  a narrative as the latter part of the work. I shall, in contrast, argue that there are quite a few aspects of this story that do not fit into the model of the folktale. In Chapter 7 decontextualization as a concept turns from the story as such to address another concept, namely metaphor. Here the meaning of metaphor is expanded in order to include concepts that are not necessarily seen as such. Subsequently, I investigate the symbolic system surrounding the moonflower (yûgao) image. Lastly, the concept of decontext is taken a step further to survey how the genre of the Genji Monogatari has been transformed in the process of translation into the Tale of Genji. The main conclusion is that the “Yûgao” story combines tragic themes with comic motifs to build a symbolic narrative with characters hovering between roles.