Re-Reading the Cityscape. How Saihate Tahi’s Poetry Installation Shi no kasoku Opens Up New Urban Imaginaries
Abstract
In recent years, contemporary Japanese poet Saihate Tahi has expanded poetry beyond the page, creating immersive poetic spaces. One such work, Shi no kasoku, is a one-line poetry installation in a back alley, where text and urban space merge. This paper examines how a site-specific poetry installation has the potential to transform reading into an embodied experience, reshaping perceptions of urban space. Drawing on Miryam Sas’ notion of encounter (deai) and spatial theorists like Lefebvre and Massey, I argue that Shi no kasoku serves as both a site of encounter and resistance, prompting readers to reimagine the everyday space of the city.
Presentato: 13 Febbraio 2025 | Accettato: 29 Luglio 2025 | Pubblicato 14 Novembre 2025 | Lingua: en
Keywords Avant-garde • Contemporary poetry • Urban space • Japanese literature • Encounter • Urban art • Site-specific art
Copyright © 2025 Sarah Puetzer. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2025/03/003