Waka (poetry)

Waka (和 歌Japanese Japanese poem ), rarely also Yamato uta (大 和 歌) called, is a genre of Japanese poetry. The term was coined in the Heian period to distinguish developed in Japan by Kanshi poem, poems that were written in the Chinese language and Chinese forms of poetry.

Waka is therefore a collective term for several styles. The two most important are the Tanka (短歌, short poem, 5-7 5-7 7) and the choka (长 歌, long poem, 5-7 5-7 ... 5-7-7 ). Other forms are Bussokusekika (仏 足 石 歌, Buddha footprint poem, 5-7 5-7 7-7), Sedōka (旋 头 歌, 5-7-7 5-7-7, poem with repeated head) and Katauta ( 片 歌, incomplete poem, 5-7-7 ). The latter three forms lost, however, in the early Heian period ( 9th century ) in popularity, and also the Choka form was soon no longer used it. During the middle of the Heian period the Imayô (今 様, modern style, 7-5 7-5 7-5 7-5 ) occurred. The distinctions were no longer necessary, and Tanka were more commonly referred to as Waka.

Mid-19th century, the term tanka was then redefined. The Japanese poet and critic Masaoka Shiki requested that the waka should be renewed and modernized, as it was all in Japan, and called this new form as Tanka. He also coined the term haiku as a modernized form of the Hokku.

Waka has, in contrast to classical Chinese poetry, neither rhyme nor a division into lines. Instead of lines, the poems in units (连) and sentences (句) were divided. However, these organizations with the translation of Indo-European languages ​​to Waka in rows.

Utaawase

Utaawase (歌 合) is the Japanese Bet densities. Beginning around the 9th century to modern times, the ancient Japanese aristocracy, the Japanese imperial court. It consisted of the thematic betting densities of Tanka according to fixed rules under the supervision of judges.

Tanka in France

Tanka authors in France Jacques Roubaud and Nicolas Grenier.

See also

• Six best Waka poets