Great Mirror of Male Love

Texte du rabat

"A welcome opportunity for wider comparison of the literary traditions and sexual conventions of Japanese and Euro-American cultures."--Journal of Japanese Studies

Résumé
Stories of homosexual love affairs between samurai men and boys and between young kabuki actors and their patrons held broad appeal in pre-modern Japanese culture. An independent popular writer, Saikaku wrote "Nanshoku Okagami" in 1687 with the intention of extending his readership.

Contenu
Introduction; Preface; Part I: 1. Love: the contest between two forces; 2. The ABCs of boy love; 3. Within the fence: pine, maple, and a willow waist; 4. Love letter sent in a sea bass; 5. Implicated by his diamond crest; Part II: 6. A sword his only memento; 7. Though bearing an umbrella, he was rained upon; 8. His head shaved on the path of dreams; 9. Aloeswood boy of the east; 10. Nightingale in the snow; Part III: 11. Grudge provoked by a sedge hat; 12. Tortured to death with snow on his sleeve; 13. The sword that survived love's flames; 14. The sickbed no medicine could cure; 15. He fell in love when the mountain rose was in bloom; Part IV: 16. Drowned by love in winecups of pearly nautilus shells; 17. The boy who sacrificed his life in the robes of his lover; 18. They waited three years to die; 19. Two old cherry trees still in bloom; 20. Handsome youths having fun cause trouble for a temple; Part V. 21. Tears in a paper shop; 22. He pleaded for his life at Mitsudara Hachiman; 23. Love's flame kindled by a flint seller; 24. Visiting from Edo, suddenly a monk; 25. Votive picture of Kichiya riding a horse; Part VI: 26. A huge winecup overflowing with love; 27. Kozakura's figure: grafted branches of a cherry tree; 28. The man who resented another's shouts; 29. A secret visit leads to the wrong bed; 30. A terrible shame he never performed in the capital; Part VII: 31. Fireflies also work their asses at night; 32. An onnagata's tosa diary; 33. An unworn robe to remember him by; 34. Bamboo clappers strike the hateful number; 35. Nails hammered into an amateur painting; Part VIII: 36. A verse sung by a goblin with a beautiful voice; 37. Siamese roosters and the reluctant farewell; 38. Loved by a man in a box; 39. The Koyama barrier keeper; 40. Who wears the incense graph dyed in her heart?; Notes; English translations of Ihara Saikaku; Index.