Abstract
This paper assesses critical responses to "The Hokku" of Basho. During the Tokugawa period Basho was, literally, deified and slavishly praised. The modern era began with a re-evaluation and harsh backlash against this status. More recently, Japanese commentaries have developed a critical but positive assessment of Basho's work.

From the Paper
" This study will examine the experiences and discoveries of Matsuo Basho on his travels in The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches to determine how those experiences enriched his poetry. Basho was, at the time he first set out on his several travels, in the midst of an intensely spiritual time of self-examination. He was not merely traveling for pleasure or distraction from life's worries. To the contrary, he was seeking the ultimate truths of life.

Accordingly, the discoveries Basho made on his travels were serious and profound lessons about himself and nature. Basho is not writing a travelogue, but rather a portrait of his spiritual reality as it exists at the moment of writing each particular poem.

What Basho discovers again and again on his travels is that.."

Abstract
With the realization of the complexity of our task, we will discuss the dynamic of individuality versus group identity in Tokugawa Japan as represented in the literary works of two of its greatest writers, the poet Matsuo Basho, and the novelist, Ihara Saikaku. It will be argued that this dynamic manifested itself in their work as a balance between individual artistic expression and participation in a common tradition. As will be seen, Basho's work emphasizes the group identity over individuality by his construction of a school of poetry with shared principles passed through his disciples. Saikaku, in contrast, emphasizes the individuality of his expression as he explored the diversity of classes that mingled in the "floating world". This strategic balance between the two competing forces, it will be seen, is a fundamental aspect of the aesthetics of the Tokugawa period.

Abstract
This essay explores the question of the "personal" in relation to the poetic form of haiku, as expressed by the greatest poet of Tokugawa Japan, Matsuo Basho (1644-94), and two of the era's female poets: Sono-Jo (1649-1723) and Chigetsu-Ni (1632-1706).

Abstract
This will include a comparison of two basic works, including Matsuo Basho's poetry and Chikamatsu Monzaemon dramatic writing. Both artists reveal very similar themes, including humanity's connection to nature and the overall tragedy of the human condition. The works were expressed in a simple language that reached all people, including commoners.

Abstract
The work chooses several neoclassic works to demonstrate the timeless phenomenon of the struggle between father and son. The problematic relationship between father and son is therefore timeless and although there are differences between the various struggles, similarities also exist.

From the Paper
"Throughout time there has existed a constant struggle between fathers and sons, almost as a right of passage into manhood. Many literary works have addressed this very issue either directly or as a means to assist in the development of a story or to establish things such as tone and setting. I have chosen to discuss three such relationships from selected works derived from the Neoclassicism era. I will compare and contrast these relationships and show the effect each had on the selected work. The three dyads are Orgon and Damis from Jean-Baptist Moliere's Tartuffe, Theseus and Hippolytus, from Jean Racine's Phaedre, and finally Bao-yu and Jia Zheng from Cao Xueqin's Story of the Stone."

Tags:basho, moliere, phaedre, racine, stone, story, tartuffe