Wie wirkt dichterische Sprache? Überlegungen zur Performativität in der klassischen japanischen Dichtung

Abstract

Shifting the perspective in the analysis of classical Japanese poetry from textuality to performative strategies opens up new possibilities of interpretation. Despite some extremely restrictive features predominant in Japanese poetry such as the shortness of the tanka or haikai, strict rules for the usage of poetic vocabulary or of allusions and citations, these lyric forms endured almost unchanged for many centuries: Poetry was one of the main cultural assets in a strictly hierarchical society, and it was shared by practically all strata of literates. Focusing on the circumstances of production and reception of poetry enables us to reconstruct other features than the textual meaning of the poems. The first part of this essay explores the possibilities of applying the terminology of performance studies to poems and poetic practice, the second part focuses on poetic treatises and analytical terms from the late Tokugawa period. It will be argued that both poetic as well as analytical practice do not primarily follow hermeneutic principles, but privilege the moment of creation/reception of poems and the capacity to capture the mood of the moment.