Japanese literature. History of development

Japanese literature has existed for more than 1,500 years. During this time, it has changed many times: new styles, trends, artistic trends have appeared. Some unrecognized works became a real classic, and promising books lost their relevance in a couple of decades. Do you want to know more about Japanese literature? About its ups and downs? Read this article!

Ancient Literature

Initially, myths and songs were distributed in Japan, which were transmitted orally. However, closer to the VII century, everything changed. The emperor of Tenji established higher schools in which he studied Chinese. Soon, borrowing and optimizing the hieroglyphs from China, there was written Japanese. Thus, by the seventh century, writing was actively spreading. As a result, monuments of Japanese literature began to appear.

The first Japanese work that has come down to our times is the chronicle called "Kojiki". It was written by Yasumaro Ono in 712. The book contained various folklore, represented by songs, myths, fairy tales, legends, etc. In addition, the work also had historical value. After all, in the Kojiki, the author left some historical legends and chronicles.

Another example of ancient Japanese literature is "Manyoshu". The book was a huge collection of lyrics, which included more than 4000 folk and author's tank poems.

Classic literature

The next stage of Japanese literature was called classical. It lasted from the VIII to XII centuries. What is characteristic for this period? Japanese literature strongly intertwined with the Chinese. Most of the inhabitants of Japan were illiterate. It is for this reason that Japanese fiction was spread among the aristocracy and the higher court circles. Perhaps the main feature of this era is that most of the works were written by women. It is for this reason that the classical Japanese literature is dominated by family and other decorous motifs.

The most striking example of the literature of this era is the "Tale of the Beautiful Otikubo". The book tells about the life of the Japanese Cinderella, who huddled in a tiny komorke, honoring the customs of ancestors, moral covenants. Due to her high morality, the girl was able to get out of the mud into the princes, as a noble and rich gentleman fell in love with her.

If we talk about genre orientation, literature has moved away from folk art. In place of myths and tales came higher genres: novels, novellas, stories, etc. In the tenth century, even the first Japanese novel entitled "The Story of the Old Man Taketori" was published. It tells of an old woodcutter who met a little girl who turned out to be a resident of the Moon.

Medieval literature

This literary period lasted from the 12th to the 17th century. The power in the country has radically changed. In place of the mikado, which was a highly intellectual elite of the country, came the military class called the shogun.

Literary activity of the country began to fall precipitously. Such genres as the novel and Japanese poems, were in oblivion. Memoirs of outstanding commanders and works of historical character enjoyed immense popularity. In general, Japanese literature has become more violent and bloody. It is also worth noting that women writers did not take part in the medieval literary process in Japan.

"Genpei Joysuiki" is a vivid representative of medieval Japanese literature. The work tells about the ups and downs of two aristocratic families - Genji and Heike. The book resembles Shakespeare's chronicle in spirit. The product is characterized by cruel heroic battles, the intertwining of historical truth with fiction, authorial digressions and reasonings.

Contemporary Japanese Literature

After the fall of the shoguns, the emperors returned to power. This led to the emergence of a new period in Japanese literature, which lasted until the middle of the XX century. The country of the rising sun has become more open to another world. And this turned out to be the main factor for the development of literature. A characteristic feature of this period is the active influence of European ideas and trends.

At first, the number of translations of European (including Russian) literature increased significantly. People wanted to learn about foreign culture. Later, the first Japanese works began to appear, they were written in a European style. For example, books such as the "Pillar of Fire", "The Love Confession of Two Nuns", "The Five-Pagoda Pagoda", have moved far away from the Japanese classics. In these works, European ideology and style of life were actively cultivated.

The post-war period

The defeat in the Second World War greatly affected the whole Japanese culture and the life of the people as a whole. Changes have not bypassed the literature. Japanese writers implanted a new ideology that combined both old traditions and modern democracy ("The Thousand Crane" by Yasunari Kawabata, "Fine Snow" by Junichiro Tanizaki).

Japanese literature. Haiku

Japanese works of a lyrical nature deserve special attention. Japanese poems, or hokku (haiku), were popular throughout almost the entire period of development of literature. The peculiarity of such products lies in the structure. According to the canons of the genre, hokku consists of 17 syllables, which constitute a column of hieroglyphs. The main theme of such works is a description of the beauty of nature or philosophical reflections. The most famous khayzins are Takahama Kyoshi, Kobayashi Issa, Masaoka Siki. Well, the father of hockey can be called Matsuo Basho.