Akinari, Ueda | James T. Araki (essay date 1967)
James T. Araki (essay date 1967)
SOURCE: Araki, James T. “A Critical Approach to the Ugetsu monogatari.” Monumenta Nipponica 22, nos. 1-2 (1967): 49-64.
[In the following essay, Araki offers an overview of criticism of Akinari's tales and an analysis of the structural techniques the author employed in Tales of Moonlight and Rain.]
1 A SURVEY OF CRITICAL APPROACHES
Ueda Akinari aspired to distinction as a poet and classical scholar. His reputation in Japanese literary history today, however, rests almost exclusively on his genius as a writer of short stories—particularly of the Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of the Misty Moon), a collection of nine short mysterious tales which he completed probably in 1768. Those in the West who have read the Ugetsu monogatari in translation1 may have felt that some of the tales are curiously composed, and may have questioned their excellence. Apparent even...
[The entire page is 9318 words long]
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