Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Rethinking Nature in Japan
Chapter | The Relationship between Nature and Human Feelings in Heian waka

The Relationship between Nature and Human Feelings in Heian waka

Abstract
Nature and human feelings in Heian waka are expressed simultaneously by kakekotoba. Waka was composed and exchanged in daily life like greeting cards today. Waka poems were written on strips of paper and presented, often tied to flowers or branches of plants in season. It was natural that the waka had expressions of those natural things. Kakekotoba is essential for the waka, containing two meanings in one sequence of kana characters, one meaning in the context of nature and the other in that of human feelings.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: March 5, 2016 | Accepted: April 6, 2017 | Published Dec. 15, 2017 | Language: en

Keywords AtsutadaKakekotobaKokinwakashūTenth centuryTakamitsuKana letters


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