Waka Workshop III

Gatherings Beneath the Dai:
Seasonal Topics in Hyakushu and Utaawase

March 28-29, 2008
Columbia University, New York City

Co-sponsored by the Donald Keene Center, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University, the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College, and the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia

Chair: Haruo Shirane (Columbia University) Organizers: Stefania Burk (UBC), Christina Laffin (UBC), Wiebke Denecke (Barnard), David Lurie (Columbia)

The Third Waka Workshop will be held at Columbia University March 28-29, 2008. The workshop will take up Horikawa hyakushu (1105) and Roppyakuban utaawase (1193), two of the most notable works in terms of fixed topics (dai), poetry contests (utaawase), and their influence over subsequent poetic production. For the workshop, our primary focus will be the issue of dai, particularly seasonal topics.

This workshop will follow the format of the previous two held at the University of British Columbia in combining close readings and open discussion of selected excerpts (distributed in advance) as well as paper presentations on relevant issues. The March workshop will conclude with two mini-workshops on the practice of writing and reciting waka led by Kanechiku Nobuyuki (Waseda) and Sakamoto Kiyoe (Nihon joshidai).

In a slight departure from the previous Waka Workshops, which examined late Kamakura-period texts, we are now moving back in time to take up two canonical works. For those interested in presenting a paper, we invite you to submit a short proposal. Since the selected readings will take up dai and seasonality, we are seeking papers that may focus on these topics, in regard to larger issues such as genre, canonization, stylistic schisms and factions, materiality and visuality, performance and performativity. Presenters may also wish to consider hyakushu as a form, their influence on other genres (such as anthologies and monogatari), and further topics that might complement the readings.

If you are interested in participating in the workshop, as an attendee or presenter, please contact Stefania Burk at or Christina Laffin at by THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2007. Further information will be posted online at https://www.arts.ubc.ca/index.php?id=11084.

This workshop has been made possible by the generous support of the Donald Keene Center, Barnard College, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University. We hope to offset some costs for participants and are happy to send formal letters of invitation to assist attendees in securing other funding.