In Japanese Poetry and its Publics: From Colonial Taiwan to Fukushima (Routledge, 2018), Dean Anthony Brink, Associate Professor at the National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, argues that certain forms of Japanese classical poetry (especially tanka and senryū) have remained central to public life in both Japan and its former colony of Taiwan. Brink analyzes poems published in regular newspaper columns and various blogs, examining the way in which they reflect specific historical moments and exploring how they can be used for (and in) politics. Brink’s conclusion is that poetry has an ambivalent function, as it can serve on the one hand to justify and support colonialism and imperialism, and on the other hand to present a medium of resistance and protest.
First published on the New Books in East Asian Studies channel on the New Books Network, July 19 2019.

New Books in East Asian Studies

Dean Brink, “Japanese Poetry and its Publics” (Routledge, 2018)

Assistant Professor @ Department of Japanese Philosophy, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University / ENOJP  vicepresident.

Roman Pașca