Message from wbanta

[Anonymous]

Ms. "K" and Classmates:
In confession, I have to say that many of the historic transitions Prof. Miyake made from one time period to another tended to become blurred in my head and my notes. I suspect that this was the result of have a great deal of information to cover in just one evening. As a result, I am not too sure I could logically state or responsibly "section" the development of literary trends.
If I heard and understood correctly, there was a significant development during the Heian Period. This is where ther role of women developed and where the Japanese language itself took on a degree of cultural autonomy. Because women were outside of politics, they were allowed to use the Japanese vernacular, and the culturally elite(aristocratic)women did so in literature and poetry. Men, on the other hand, were trained in the use of Chinese, so their language and usage were classical in nature or perhaps a hybrid of Chinese and Japanese.
If one goes back to Prof. Yamashita's talk of the previous Saturday, I suspect that this is the period of "Aware" or the period where wealth, rank, and pedigree indicated one's worth in society. To take this one step further, the "culture of the brain" was provided with/in classical Chinese training; whereas, the "culture of the heart" was embodied in/by the Japanese vernacular. Those that lived in that time or believed in this type of cultural variation placed Kyoto at the center of their universe and placed all other areas in the backwash of society. Only one-tenth of one percent were "worthy" of distinction or imperial in nature/birth.
Most, if not all, of the Japanese literature that Prof. Miyake presented in lecture and example were outside of my framework of experience. Perhaps the comics would work for students, but if I understood correctly, some comics are a bit too explicit for classroom use.
Walt Banta