Issa and the Meaning of Animals

by David G. Lanoue

Overview

The poetry of Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) can coax readers toward an insight sorely needed in our time: animals are like people and deserve our care and compassion. Animals work like people, play like people, sing, dance, make love, start families, and participate in seasonal celebrations from New Year's Day to end-of-year drinking parties--as portrayed in the haiku of Issa. They can also, according to the Pure Land Buddhism to which Issa subscribed, attain enlightenment in a future life. Recognizing animals, as Issa does, as fellow travelers in a shared world is a first step toward their ethical treatment.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940150540811
Publisher:	Haikuguy.com
Publication date:	09/05/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	292
File size:	238 KB

About the Author

David G. Lanoue is a professor of English at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is a co-founder of the New Orleans Haiku Society, an associate member of the Haiku Foundation, and President of the Haiku Society of America. His books include translations (Cup-of-Tea Poems; Selected Haiku of Kobayashi Issa and The Distant Mountain: The Life and Haiku of Kobayashi Issa), criticism (Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa), and a series of �haiku novels,� including Haiku Guy, Laughing Buddha, Haiku Wars, Frog Poet and Dewdrop World. Some of his books have appeared in French, German, Spanish, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Japanese editions. He maintains The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa website, for which he translated 10,000 of Issa�s haiku.

Editorial Reviews

In the late 1700s, English-language writers began a long tradition of poems about animals, addressed to animals, even attributing speech to animals. In his new work, David Lanoue shows that the Japanese haiku-poet Issa, working at the same time, did this and more, all with immense ingenuity and sensitivity to other beings. It is a major contribution to our understanding of animals in literature.

Professor of Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia - David F