With something of a poetry renaissance currently under way worldwide, there is now, more than ever, a need for a solidly-based methodology for interpreting poems: something more empirical than traditional 'lit-crit' approaches, and something more linguistically-informed than the version of 'postmodernism' rampant in certain Anglophone universities. The latter approach, which tends to allow the individual reader to do what he/she likes with a poetic text, is inadequate to interpret modernist poetry, whose English-language precursors may be found in the late Romantics; its pioneers were already...

Considering that it is the world's third-largest economy-with a long and rich history and a sophisticated culture-Japan is surprisingly little-known outside its borders. This book presents a detailed overview of key aspects of Japanese society and culture. Since the Meiji Period (1868-1912), when a famous slogan was "Rich Country, Strong Military", Japan was rapidly able to build an empire in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. With the mid-19th century push to adopt European and American technology and culture, the seeds of the modern nation were sown early and thoroughly. As the book...

Considering that it is the world's third-largest economy-with a long and rich history and a sophisticated culture-Japan is surprisingly little-known outside its borders. This book presents a detailed overview of key aspects of Japanese society and culture. Since the Meiji Period (1868-1912), when a famous slogan was "Rich Country, Strong Military", Japan was rapidly able to build an empire in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. With the mid-19th century push to adopt European and American technology and culture, the seeds of the modern nation were sown early and thoroughly. As the book...