"NO OTHER FIGURE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED ON SUCH A WORLD SCALE FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF JAPANESE LITERARY AND HUMANISTIC STUDIES." —BARBARA RUCH, PLANNER, DONALD KEENE CENTER OF JAPANESE CULTURE
"The variety in Anthology of Japanese Literature is enormous. But the qualities that make it impressive far more than its bulk are that it is easy to read; that it is also enlightening and instructive; that it is rewarding on its most superficial or its profoundest level. ... I know of no one . .. who has made a more indelible mark in the field of Oriental studies or who brings a more lucid explanation of Japan to the Western reader." -Saturday Review
Originally published in 1955 and now with more than half a million copies in print, Anthology of Japanese Literature offers readers a comprehensive overview of the history of Japanese literature from the earliest times to the mid-nineteenth century. An introduction by Donald Keene places the selections in their proper historical context, allowing readers to enjoy the book both as literature and as a guide to the cultural history of Japan.
Donald Keene (1922-2019) was widely regarded as America’s foremost cultural ambassador to Japan. He was University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature Emeritus at Columbia University. The winner of numerous literary awards and prizes, including the Kikuchi Kan Prize; the Order of the Rising Sun, Third Class; the Yamagata Banto Prize; the Japan Foundation Prize; the Shincho Grand Prize; and the Ivan Sandrof Award for literary criticism, Professor Keene was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1986; in 1990 he was elected as a foreign member of the Japan Academy, the equivalent academic body in Japan. He wrote or translated over fifty books, including Modern Japanese Literature, The Japanese Discovery of Europe, and The Battles of Coxinga.
