Conversations with Shotetsu

Conversations with Shotetsu represents the first attempt to translate and analyze the late medieval poetic miscellany titled Shotetsu monogatari. Written by a disciple of Shotetsu (1381-1459), whom many scholars regard as the last great poet of the courtly tradition, this work provides a wealth of information about the practice of poetry during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It contains anecdotes about famous poets, advice on how to treat certain standard topics, and lessons in etiquette when attending or participating in poetry contests and gatherings. But unlike the many other works of this time that stop at that level, Shotetsu's miscellany also includes the master's analysis of poems, both by himself and others, and short essays on artistic ideals such as yugen, or "mystery and depth." It is here that Shotetsu's contributions to medieval aesthetics become most clear, showing him as a worthy heir--both as poet and thinker--to the legacy of the great poet-critic Fujiwara no Teika; (1162-1241).
The translation, the last project of the late Robert H. Brower, is of the complete Nihon koten bungaku taikei text, edited by Hisamatsu Sen'ichi; Steven D. Carter has annotated the translation and provided an introduction that details Shotetsu's life, his place in the poetic circles of his day, and the relationship of his work to the larger poetic tradition of medieval Japan.
Conversations with Shotetsu is important reading for anyone interested in medieval Japanese literature and culture, in poetry, and in aesthetics. It provides a unique look at the literary world of late medieval Japan.