Waka Workshop

The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University will host the next “Waka Workshop” (fourth in the series started at the University of British Columbia and continued last year at Columbia University) on March 6th and 7th, 2009. Readings and discussions at the 2009 workshop will focus on selected texts featuring meisho of the Omi region, from the Daijoe waka of the classical period to the 16th ce. configuration of the “Omi hakkei” (Eight Views of Omi) topos and the poetic content of Omi meisho zue. All readings will involve a consideration of the interaction between waka and the visual arts, and there will be an opportunity to view a late-17th c. “Omi hakkei” handscroll by Yamamoto Soken held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, as well as related works found in other Yale collections. (Please visit the Beinecke website for images of the scroll and click here for a transcription.)

Guest presentations will be given by the following: Sasaki Takahiro (Professor, Keio University), on Daijoe waka; Naito Mariko (Doctoral candidate, University of Tokyo), on Omi topoi in classical waka; Watanabe Yumiko (Lecturer, Utsunomiya University), on Omi meisho in the Saisho shitennoin program; and Robert Goree (Doctoral candidate, Yale University) on Omi meisho zue.

The Waka Workshop at Yale is open to all interested participants. Although there is no fee for registration, those interested in participating are urged to register early since space may become limited. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to New Haven. Hospitality will be extended to all participants at a reception and at several meals during the workshop.

To register, please e-mail waka.eall@yale.edu with your name, affiliation, contact information, and which days you plan on attending. Upon receiving your registration we will send you information about reserving a hotel room.

The workshop schedule is available in PDF and Word formats.

Suggestions for travel to New Haven are available here.

Please contact waka.eall@yale.edu for further information.