For anyone specifically interested in the Japanese influence on modernist poets, I suggest the following three books, as well: The Japanese Tradition in British and American Literature, by Earl Miner; Japanese Cultural Influences on American Poetry and Drama, by Hazel Durnell; and American Poetry and Japanese Culture, by Sanehide Kodama. I believe Thomas Fortenberry already mentioned Ezra Pound and Japan: Letters and Essays, edited by Sanehide Kodama, in an earlier post. Ce Rosenow At 06:33 AM 11/18/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Jon: > >I'll look at Kern's book. Emerson was a huge influence on Cummings and >Frost, as was Thoreau. What's interesting to me is that even with those >similar influences (Pound, too), Cummings openly expressed disdain for >Frost's poetry, and Frost openly disapproved of free verse. Yet I see some >parallels in their poetry, which goes to the Eastern philosophies. > >Kate > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Jon & Anne Weidler" <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 12:26 AM >Subject: Eastern questions > > >> It's wonderful that this list suddenly leapt alive. It's equally >> wonderful that "eastern" issues prompted the leaping. About Modernism >> and Orientalism in general, I've been reading Robert Kern's book on the >> subject (*Modernism, Orientalism, and the American Poem* it's cleverly >> titled.) I find it valuable because Kern's reading sets up a way for >> incorporating non-Buddhist, non-Eastern-minded writers (like Cummings >> or Stevens for instance) into a "Zen-centric" perspective (to coin a >> phrase). I've been thinking about some products of modern poetry as >> being kinds of advertisements before the fact for an American >> assimilation/appropriation/utilization of the so-called wisdom of the >> east. >> >> (Note please that Kern's book is mainly about Emerson, some 19th-cen. >> German philologists, Otto Jespersen, Fenollosa, Pound, and ultimately, >> Snyder. It doesn't speak specifically to Cummings or Stevens, even if >> I implied that it did. It's just helpful for locating modern American >> poetic practice in a history of western engagements with, primarily, >> the Chinese language.) >> >> Thanks for writing! >> -Jon Weidler >> Loyola University >> >