Pleasure in Profit

Popular Prose in Seventeenth-Century Japan

AvLaura Moretti

Inbunden, Engelska, 2020

1 399 kr

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Beskrivning

In the seventeenth century, Japanese popular prose flourished as waves of newly literate readers gained access to the printed word. Commercial publishers released vast numbers of titles in response to readers’ hunger for books that promised them potent knowledge. However, traditional literary histories of this period position the writings of Ihara Saikaku at center stage, largely neglecting the breadth of popular prose.In the first comprehensive study of the birth of Japanese commercial publishing, Laura Moretti investigates the vibrant world of vernacular popular literature. She marshals new data on the magnitude of the seventeenth-century publishing business and highlights the diversity and porosity of its publishing genres. Moretti explores how booksellers sparked interest among readers across the spectrum of literacies and demonstrates how they tantalized consumers with vital ethical, religious, societal, and interpersonal knowledge. She recasts books as tools for knowledge making, arguing that popular prose engaged its audience cognitively as well as aesthetically and emotionally to satisfy a burgeoning curiosity about the world. Crucially, Moretti shows, readers experienced entertainment within the didactic, finding pleasure in the profit gained from acquiring knowledge by interacting with transformative literature. Drawing on a rich variety of archival materials to present a vivid portrait of seventeenth-century Japanese publishing, Pleasure in Profit also speaks to broader conversations about the category of the literary by offering a new view of popular prose that celebrates plurality.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2020-12-22
Mått:156 x 235 x 39 mm
Vikt:850 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:432
Förlag:Columbia University Press
ISBN:9780231197229
Utmärkelser:Short-listed for DeLong Book History Prize, Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing 2021

Utforska kategorier

Språk: referensverk och allmänt inom Språk och ordböcker

Mer om författaren

Laura Moretti is senior lecturer in premodern Japanese studies at the University of Cambridge and a fellow at Emmanuel College. She is the author of Recasting the Past: An Early Modern “Tales of Ise” for Children (2016).

Recensioner i media

Moretti’s volume is an excellent introduction to and survey of cheap print in seventeenth‐century Japan. It also offers a series of fascinating parallels and contrasts for the anglophone scholar of European book history. It is intensively researched, clearly written and clearly argued. Its dialogue is both with scholars of Japanese culture and with scholars working on cheap print more broadly. For the scholar of book history and of popular culture whose emphasis is predominantly European, this is an invaluable work.

Innehållsförteckning

AcknowledgmentsNote to ReadersIntroduction: Reclaiming the Great Unread1. The Culture of the Written Word2. The Publishing Business3. Negotiating the Way4. Civility Matters5. Say It in a Skillful Letter6. A Commitment to the Present7. The Triumph of PluralityEpilogue: WayfindingNotesBibliographyIndex

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