Ezra Pound and the Noh Essay

Also, a few new Nohs have been written and some 'retired' ones have been re-activated. Noh has also blended with other forms of entertainment and theatrical genres.

That is the extent of the change, though as there is a very sincere and earnest call for tradition and custom throughout the Noh industry. The field remains very codified and the emphasis from within the field is much more so on tradition than innovation. The society of Noh preserves and espouses the traditions. One of the traditions is the regimented progression of Noh characters than an actor/actress can portray during the course of their lives.

The Noh remains an integral part of Japanese culture. Ezra Pound maintained a pursuit of sharing the Noh with the West for most of his adult life. His endeavor was a success as the Noh has indeed been shared all over the world while remaining particularly sacred in its native Japan.

Works Cited

Ewick, D. 2003. Sadakichi Hartmann, The influence of Japanese art on Western civilization.

Japonisme, orientalism, modernism: A critical bibliography of Japan in English-

language verse. http://themargins.net/bib/A/01.htm (accessed October 7, 2010).

Fenollosa, Ernest and Ezra Pound. The noh theatre of Japan: with complete texts of 15 classic plays. Dover: Courier Dover Publications, 2004

Kodama, Sanehide (Ed.). Ezra Pound and Japan: Letters and Essays. Reading Ridge, Conn.:

Black Swan, 1987. Reprint (1996).

Nagahata, Akitoshi. Pound's reception of noh reconsidered: The image and the voice.

Quaderni di Palazzo Serra 15 (2008): 113-125.

NICHOLLS, PETER, An Experiment with Time: Ezra Pound and the Example of Japanese Noh,

Modern Language Review, 90:1 (1995:Jan.): 1

Sands, Maren. The Influence of Japanese Noh Theater on Yeats.

http://writing.colostate.edu/gallery/phantasmagoria/sands.htm.

(accessed October 7, 2010).

Teele, Roy E. A Balance Sheet on Pound's Translations of Noh Plays. Books Abroad.

Vol. 39, No. 2 (Spring, 1965), p. 168-170. Published by: University of Oklahoma

Teele, Roy E. Comparative Literature. Vol. 9, No. 4 (Autumn, 1957), p. 345-368

Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of the University of Oregon

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1768551

Van Dyne, James. The Tale of Genji as a Moral Guidebook.

http://www.lomohut.com/downloads/genji/genji_as_a_moral_guide_1.pdf

(accessed October 7, 2010).

Pound Letter dated May 15, 1939 (Kodama 1987)

Ibid.

Ibid.

Pound Letter dated October 28, 1939 (Kodama 1987). Pound met with Dr. Sakanishi Shio, curator of the Japanese section of the Library of Congress, to discuss 'bilingual editions of Noh plays'

Pound Letter dated August 25, 1940 (Kodama 1987)

Pound Letter dated December 31, 1940 (Kodama 1987). There is some confusion as to exactly when Shaw first experienced Noh. Kodama footnotes the letter that that Shaw first saw Noh at a London gathering in 1918 is not accurate because Ito was in New York by then (Ewick 2003). Shaw did attend a specially-prepared Noh performance while he was in Japan in 1933, but appears to have fallen asleep during the show.

Pound Letter dated March 25, 1941 (Kodama 1987). Pound relates the importance of Noh to the growing Japanese imperial menace to the allies by suggesting that the allies offer surrender of Guam in exchange for audio/motion picture films made of the Noh plays ('We shd / give you Guam but INSIST on getting Kumasaka and Kagekiyo in return. i.e. INSIST on having 300 Noh plays done properly AND recorded on sound film so as to be available to EDUCATE such amerikn stewdents as are capable of being cultur'd'). Pound also makes abundantly in this letter his disdain for the cultural and intellectual capacity of Americans.

Pound Letter dated March 29,…