Speaking theory through poetry: Yosano Akiko (1878--1942) on poetic composition and women's writing

Yosano Akiko (1878--1942), a highly acclaimed modern Japanese writer, is mainly known for her numerous volumes of poetry, educational philosophy and feminist thought, as well as her translations of classical literary works. My thesis puts the focus on Yosano Akiko's critical texts on poetic composition and women's writing, with the aim of promoting her role as a literary critic and theoretician. In order to more fully understand the significance of Yosano Akiko's position in literary history, as well as to substantiate her position as a literary and historical subject, her theoretical texts need to become a topic of inquiry.; Speaking Theory Through Poetry: Yosano Akiko (1878--1942) on Poetic Composition and Women's Writing thematizes the experience and interpretation of "writing" as seen through Yosano Akiko's lens of classical ideals, contemporary artistic vision, economic need and the quest for women's equality in early twentieth century Japan. Central to Yosano Akiko's expositions are her critical assessment of classical and modern literary conventions, her discussion of works by other poets, and the extension of her artistic pursuit to issues pertaining to the status of women in literature and society. By negotiating her artistic preferences and professional responsibilities, Yosano Akiko assumed all three roles of author, reader and critic in support of her own literary project. The result is a critical argument with which she evaluates and resists the aesthetic standards and socio-political determinants of literature, as well as an art theory that promotes expressive freedom in tanka composition and women's writing, Yosano Akiko's texts not only expand on the canon of Japanese poetic and literary theory, they also postulate a new critical space for ideas that were not yet acknowledged by the critics and literary circles of her age. The results of this study will be pertinent to the history of karon, Japanese literary criticism, and future comparative work on theories of writing by women in east and west.