Japanese literature: An introduction for Western readers

Japanese literature is most extensive in its range and form and this introduction to it covers all its various branches—poetry, plays, novels and other prose writings—and compares them with parallel developments in the West. Western influence on Japanese literature is more extensive than is commonly supposed and the author devotes a chapter to a discussion of this. He also has many interesting things to say about the influence of Haiku poetry and No plays on Western writers. Dr. Keene is lecturer in Japanese at Cambridge University, and this book is based on his lectures delivered there.