A Sense of the Whole: Reading Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End

by Mark Gonnerman (Editor)

Overview

In 1997, Mark Gonnerman organized a yearlong research workshop on Gary Snyder’s Mountains and Rivers Without End at the Stanford Humanities Center. Members of what came to be known among faculty, students, and diverse community members as the Mountains & Rivers Workshop met regularly to read and discuss Snyder’s epic poem. Here the poem served as a commons that turned the multiversity into a university once again, if only for a moment.

The Workshop invited writers, teachers and scholars from Northern California and Japan to speak on various aspects of Snyder’s great accomplishment. This book captures the excitement of these gatherings and invites readers to enter the poem through essays and talks by David Abram, Wendell Berry, Carl Bielefeldt, Tim Dean, Jim Dodge, Robert Hass, Stephanie Kaza, Julia Martin, Michael McClure, Nanao Sakaki, and Katsunori Yamazato. It includes an interview with Gary Snyder, appendices, and other resources for further study.
Snyder once introduced a reading of this work with reference to whitewater rapids, saying most of his writing is like a Class III run where you will do just fine on your own, but that Mountains and Rivers is more like Class V: if you’re going to make it to take-out, you need a guide. As a collection of commentaries and background readings, this companion volume enhances each reader’s ability to find their way into and through an adventurous and engaging work of art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619024564
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Mark Gonnerman grew up in Northfield, MN. He attended the Paracollege of St. Olaf College and Harvard Divinity School. As a Lieberman Fellow, he completed his Ph.D. and was founding director of the Aurora Forum at Stanford University. Married to Meri Mitsuyoshi, he is a teacher and independent scholar based in San José, CA.

Table of Contents

Introduction Cultivating a Sense of the Whole: Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End Mark Gonnerman 3

1 Opening Conversation Gary Snyder Jack Shoemaker 33

Hearing Native Voices

2 The Other's Voice: Cultural Imperialism and Poetic Impersonality in Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End Tim Dean 45

3 Dharma Shoot-out at the OK Dairy: Some Angles and Aspects of Imagination in Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End Jim Dodge 81

4 Gary Snyder and the Renewal of Oral Culture David Abram 93

Making Pacific Rim Connections

5 Mountains and Rivers Without End and Japanese No Theater: A Quest for a New Humanity Katsunori Yamazato 111

6 Mountains and Rivers and Japan Nanao Sakaki 125

Exploring Poetic Roots

7 Some Interim Thoughts about Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End Wendell Berry 137

8 Proceeding by Clues: Reading Mountains and Rivers Without End Robert Hass 143

9 Thoughts on Mountains and Rivers Without End Michael Mcclure 203

Engaging Buddhist Perspectives

10 Buddhism in Mountains and Rivers Without End Carl Bielefeldt 215

11 Heart co Heart: Instructions in Nonduality Stephanie Kaza 241

Interview

12 "The Space Goes On": A Conversation about Mountains and Rivers Without End Gary Snyder Eric Todd Smith 261

Appendices

1 Maria Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra Heart of the "Gone-Beyond-Wisdom Sutra" 283

2 Mountains and Rivers Without End: Notes for Some of the Poems Gary Snyder 285

3 Fieldwork: Gary Snyder, Libraries, and Book Learning Mark Gonnerman 291

Bibliography of References Cited in Text and Notes 317

Contributors 329

Index 335

Note of Appreciation 351