Rhetorical Devices of the Kokinshu: A Structural Analysis of Japanese Waka Poetry

This monograph deals with the unique rhetorical devices of Japanese waka poetry through an exhaustive analysis of the first and most important of the Japanese imperial anthologies, the Kokinshu» (compiled 905 AD). The chapters are organized around the poetic devices, including kakekotoba (conventionalized puns, usually translated as 'pivot words'), makurakotoba (set phrases or epigraphs, usually translated as 'pillow words'), joshi (introductory phrases of varied length), and utamakura (famous places names, literally 'poem pillows'). The analysis presented here uses a new kind of descriptive model which defines and classifies these rhetorical devices as structural elements in the poetry. Because the approach is exhaustive, a romanized index to the Kokinshû is included as an appendix.