Resurrecting Nagasaki: Reconstruction and the Formation of Atomic Narratives

Abstract

the development of Pound’s interest in, and understanding of, nō. It successfully argues not only for the importance of nō for The Cantos, but that nō was important to Pound long after the 1917 publication of ‘Noh’ or accomplishment, a study of the classical stage of Japan. Houwen considers many examples of nō throughout The Cantos. For instance, in Canto IV, Takasago and Tamura ‘suggest the interconnection between vegetal regeneration and benevolent imperial rule’ (184), while ‘the centrality of Takasago and Tamura in the “Eleusinian” cantos in A draft of XXX Cantos demonstrates that nō remained important to Pound throughout the 1920s’ (195). Concerning The Pisan Cantos, Houwen claims, ‘Pound’s incorporation of nō in the Pisan Cantos was the culmination of a decade of profound engagement with nō in which he praised it in the highest terms’ (215). In the concluding chapter, Houwen considers nō’s significance in Rock-drill85–95 de los cantares and Thrones 96–109 de los cantares as well as in the final cantos. He demonstrates that ‘nō features prominently in the poem’s culminating paradisal vision’ (217). He also discusses Pound’s 1970 attendance at the live performance of Aoi no ue and Takasago in Rome where Pound met with nō master Minoru Umewaka’s grandson, additional evidence for Pound’s sustained interest in the form. As the previous paragraphs attest, there is much to value in Houwen’s work. His carefully-researched project is a significant contribution to Pound studies and contains many more insights and corrections to earlier scholarship than the limited space for this review allows. There is an impressive amount of context that resituates Pound’s relationship with Japan and the impact of Japan on Pound’s poetics. Houwen makes considerable use of his access to resources others did not have and of his own translations. Information overlooked, undervalued, or misinterpreted in previous studies is presented here in a more accurate light along with its significance for Pound’s poetics. Overall, there is abundant material to assist Pound scholars in reconsidering and enhancing their previous understanding of Pound and Japan.