Lexington Books
Pages: 310
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-5827-3 • Hardback • December 2018 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-1-4985-5829-7 • Paperback • June 2021 • $44.99 • (£35.00)
978-1-4985-5828-0 • eBook • December 2018 • $42.50 • (£35.00)
Yoshinobu Hakutani is professor of English and university distinguished scholar at Kent State University.
Introduction
Part I: History and Criticism
Chapter 1: The Genesis and Development of Haiku in Japan
Chapter 2: Basho and Classic Haiku Tradition
Chapter 3: Yone Noguchi and Modernist Haiku Poetics
Chapter 4: Ezra Pound, Imagism, and Haiku
Chapter 5: Haiku in English and Haiku Criticism in America
Chapter 6: Kerouac’s Haiku and Classic Haiku Poetics
Chapter 7: Kerouac’s Haiku and Beat Poetics
Chapter 8: Kerouac’s Haiku and On the Road
Chapter 9: Kerouac’s Haiku and The Dharma Bums
Part II: Selected Haiku by Jack Kerouac
List of Kerouac’s Haiku from Book of Haikus
An impressively erudite and informative study of a particular aspect of Jack Kerouac's extraordinary literary work, "Jack Kerouac and the Traditions of Classic and Modern Haiku" is a truly exceptional and unreservedly recommended addition to college and university library Literary Studies & Haiku Poetry Studies collections in general, and Jack Kerouac supplemental curriculum reading lists in particular.
— Midwest Book Review
Hakutani offers a highly original, intensive study of the importance of haiku poetry in Jack Kerouac's development as well as its significance for a wide range of other American writers such as Ezra Pound, Richard Wright, Gary Snyder, and Sonia Sanchez. Grounded in a rich understanding of the history of Japanese haiku and its underpinnings in Buddhist and Confucian thought, this book will be an invaluable resource for both specialized scholars and general readers.
— Robert Butler, author of Contemporary African American Fiction: The Open Journey
A penetrating, readable examination of Kerouac’s spontaneous and spiritually infused one-breath poetry. With clarity and scholarly precision Hakutani tells the story of how the haiku of Japanese literary tradition morphed into an exciting, international poetic genre of which Kerouac became one of the earliest and most influential masters.
— David G. Lanoue, Xavier University
In this innovative study, Hakutani explores Kerouac’s formative encounters with classic and modern haiku, situating his work within a vibrant tradition of East-West literary exchanges, from New England Transcendentalism to modernism, and from the Beat movement to African-American jazz haiku. A major contribution to transpacific American literary scholarship.
— Anita Patterson, Boston University