Новеллы

by Saikaku Ihara, Ихара Сайкаку

Ихара Сайкаку (1642 - 1693) принадлежит к числу признанных классиков японской литературы. Замечательный мастер короткой новеллы, он по праву считается основоположником нового, демократического и реалистического, направления в японской прозе. В настоящее издание включены избранные произведения Ихары.
Книга снабжена иллюстрациями, взятыми из старых японских изданий Сайкаку.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Saikaku Ihara (井原 西鶴) was a Japanese poet and creator of the "floating world" genre of Japanese prose (ukiyo-zōshi).

Born the son of the wealthy merchant Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五) in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku, and later studied under Nishiyama Sōin of the Danrin School of poetry, which emphasized comic linked verse. Scholars have described numerous extraordinary feats of solo haikai composition at one sitting; most famously, over the course of a single day and night in 1677, Saikaku is reported to have composed at least 16,000 haikai stanzas, with some rumors placing the number at over 23,500 stanzas.

Later in life he began writing racy accounts of the financial and amorous affairs of the merchant class and the demimonde. These stories catered to the whims of the newly prominent merchant class, whose tastes of entertainment leaned toward the arts and pleasure districts.