Robert Tuck's impressive study of the intersection of politics, poetry, and print media in Japan's rapidly modernizing Meiji period challenges earlier notions of an emerging national literature. Rather than focus on debates over the role of fiction, the social space of the novel, or influence of European-inflected literary styles within the Tokyo-based literary community, Tuck aims to “offer a close, ground-level account of the interaction of poetry and print media with a view to providing greater nuance to existing models of the media-driven emergence of modern nationalism and national imaginations” (p. xxxv).
And he succeeds splendidly. With a clarity of style and persistent concision, Tuck deftly covers the range of poetic expression available to would-be literati, partisan hacks, struggling students, and aging “masters.” He begins with an exploration of Sinitic verse (kanshi) and social class, demonstrating how print capitalism allowed for the expansion of the availability and authority...
