In the first part of this study we had a deep look at the morphology and structure of the phrases concerned. This showed a partial misbalance in the direct (or linguistic) meaning and literal translation/interpretation of makura-kotoba (MK) collocations. In an attempt to bridge their semantics and pragmatics, here I will refer to hermeneutics, as a psychological means of interpreting the literal meaning. The results are presented in the conclusions, offering a Western reader a direct and clear definition of makura-kotoba and its main special traces.
Some literary techniques constitute rhetorical devices that are considered to be unique to the history of Japanese verse. Nevertheless, some English translations of Japanese texts lose connotation such techniques, and few studies of this phenomenon have been written in languages other than Japanese. This study applies the insights of two approaches, i.e. morphological and semantic analysis and a hermeneutics interpretation. The result is twofold. It offers a detailed linguistic analysis, providing many insights into the interpretation of these expressions; and accommodates the hermeneutical explanation given by M. Heidegger, showing the very core of makura-kotoba. First of all, I will give a brief review of previous scholarship on the matter, followed by structural and semantic analyses. Finally, I will attempt to use definitions of hermeneutics to speak about rhetorical devices of Old Japanese verse. Translations of Old Japanese songs with glossing and morphemic analyses will be given in the Appendix.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.