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Excerpts

Yosano Akiko (1878-1942 Japan)

modernized the tanka - a form of poetry earlier focused on the beauty of nature etc, focusing instead on psychological drama. 1901 published Midaregami (tangled hair) w 399 tankas.

Last autumn
The three of us tossed acorns
To the scattering carp.
Now in the cold morning wind off the pond
He and I stand hand in chilling hand.
(tr. Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi) p.16

Han Yongun (1879-1944 Korea): On reading Tagore's "The Gardener"

I am so ashamed, my friend.  Hearing your song
    I tremble in shame.
That is because I hear your song alone -- I, who have parted
    from my love. -p.19 tr. David McCann

Lu Xun (1881-1936 Zheijiang China): My old home

hope cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist. It is just
like roads across the earth.  For actually the earth had no roads to begin
with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made.
    - tr. Yang Hsien-Yi and Gladys Yang

Tanizaki Junichiro (1886-1972) Japan: The Tattooer

	     	       (tr. Howard Hibbet)

Seikichi is the most artistic tattoer of Edo (Tokyo, around late 18th c.,
perhaps).  A former ukiyoye painter, some of his art has survived his
"decline to the status of a tattooer". His artful tattoos are famous for
"unrivaled booldness and sensual charm".

	Deep in his heart the young tattooer concealed a secret pleasure, and
	a secret desire.  His pleasure lay in the agony men felt as he drove
	his needle into them, torturing their swollen, blood-red flesh; and
	the louder they groaned, the keener was Seikichi's strange delight. 30

While he has tattoed many men, it is his dream to tattoo a woman.  His
woman will kill torture and kill many men with her beauty, like a black
widow.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) Japan: In a grove

			(p. 35-43, tr. Kojima Takahashi)
from Paul Varley's Japanese Culture:

A sickly but intellectually precocious youth, Akutagawa compiled
a brilliant academic record throughout a school career that led to graduation
from the English Literature department of Tokyo Imperial University in
1916. So extensive was his knowledge of the literature and scholarship
(especially philosophy) of Japan, China, and the West that one his
contemporaries even declared him to be the best-read man of his generation.2l
Akutagawa published his first short story in a literary journal in 1914, and
for the remainder of his brief life concentrated almost exclusively on the
short-story form. A recent commentator has suggested much about
Akutagawa's writing in asserting that the European artist who could best
have illustrated his stories was Aubrey Beardsley. Like Beardsley, Akutagawa
had a “superlative technique,” provided an “abundance of decorative
detail,” and had a great “love of grotesques.”2~

The fascination of Akutagawa's handling of ancient tales as the material
for his stories lies not only in the powerful narrative style in which he
presents them but also in his exceptional ingenuity in probing the psychological
forces-often bizarrely surprising-that may have lain behind
the tales.

Akutagawa's suicide in 1927 by means of an overdose of sleeping pills
was one of the most sensational news events of its time. He had long suffered
from various physical ailments and from fits of mental depression,
and he may even have been schizophrenic. Still, the apparent care and
deliberateness with which he planned his death chillingly implied to many
people a far more profound intellectual and emotional despair. In his suicide
note Akutagawa referred only to a feeling of “vague anxiety,” but
others have chosen to interpret his act, on the one hand, in broadly social
terms (for example, as a protest against the moral vacuity of Taishō-
early Shōwa” life) and, on the other hand, as an inevitable end result of
the predominantly negative aspect of creativity observable in so many
modern Japanese writers. If one accepts the latter thesis, Akutagawa
may be seen as setting the model for the suicides in the post-World War
I1 period of Dazai Osamu and Mishima Yukio.

Akutagawa's In a Grove (1921) was adapted by Akira Kurosawa into
"Rashomon".  Akutagawa also wrote a story called "Rashomon" but it is
completely different.

In a grove [wiki]

an early modernist short story consisting of seven varying accounts of the
murder of a samurai, Kanazawa no Takehiro, whose corpse has been found in a
bamboo forest near Kyoto. Each section simultaneously clarifies and
obfuscates what the reader knows about the murder, eventually creating a
complex and contradictory vision of events...

Plot summary

The story opens with the account of a woodcutter who has found a man's body
in the woods. The woodcutter reports that man died of a single sword slash to
the chest, and that the trampled leaves around the body showed there had been
a violent struggle, but otherwise lacked any significant evidence as to what
actually happened. There were no weapons nearby, and no horses—only a
single piece of rope, a comb and a lot of blood.

The next account is delivered by a traveling Buddhist priest. He says that he
met the man, who was accompanied by a woman on horseback, on the road, around
noon the day before the murder. The man was carrying a sword, a bow and a
black quiver. All of these, along with the woman's horse, a tall, short-maned
palomino, were missing when the woodcutter discovered the body.

The next person to testify is a ho-men (??, a released prisoner working under
contract to the police, similar to a bounty hunter). He has captured an
infamous criminal named Tajo-maru. Tajo-maru was injured when thrown from a
horse (a tall, short-maned palomino), and he is carrying a bow and a black
quiver, which do not belong to his usual arsenal. This proves, he says, that
Tajo-maru was the perpetrator. Tajo-maru was not carrying the dead man's
sword, however.

The next testimony is from an old woman, who identifies herself as the mother
of the missing girl. Her daughter is a beautiful, strong-willed 19-year-old
named Masago, married to Kanazawa no Takehiro—a 26-year-old samurai from
Wakasa. Her daughter, she says, has never been with a man other than
Takehiro. She begs the police to find her daughter.

Next, Tajo-maru confesses. He says that he met them on the road in the
forest, and upon first seeing Masago, decided that was going to rape her. In
order to rape Masago unhindered, he separated the couple, luring Takehiro
into the woods with the promise of buried treasure. He then stuffed his mouth
full of leaves, tied him to a tree and fetched Masago. When Masago saw her
husband tied to the tree, she pulled a dagger from her bosom and tried to
stab Tajo-maru, but he knocked the knife out of her hand, and he had his way
with her. Originally, he had no intention of killing the man, he claims, but
after the rape, she begged him to either kill her husband or kill
himself—she could not live if two men knew her shame. She would leave with
the last man standing. Tajo-maru did not wish to kill the Takehiro in a
cowardly manner, so he untied him and they had a swordfight. During the duel,
Masago fled. Tajo-maru dispatched the man and took the man's sword, bow, and
quiver, as well as the woman's horse. He says that he sold the sword before
he was captured by the bounty hunter.

The second-to-last account is that of Masago. According to her, after the
rape, Tajo-maru fled, and her husband, still tied to the tree, looked at her
with great disdain. She was ashamed that she had been raped, and no longer
wished to live, but she wanted him to die with her. He agreed, or so she
believed—he couldn't actually say anything because his mouth was still
stuffed full of leaves—and she plunged her dagger into his chest. She then
cut the rope that bound Takehiro, and ran into the forest, whereupon she
attempted to commit suicide numerous times, she said, but her spirit was too
strong to die. Of all of the accounts of the crime, the woman's is arguably
the least believable, and in great discordance with the other two. At the end
of her confession, she weeps.

The final account comes from Takehiro's ghost, as delivered through a spirit
medium. The ghost says that after the rape, Tajo-maru persuaded Masago to
leave her husband and become his own wife, which she agreed to do under one
condition: He would have to kill Takehiro. Tajo-maru became enraged at the
suggestion, kicked her to the ground, and asked Takehiro if he should kill
the dishonorable woman. Hearing this, Masago fled into the forest. Tajo-maru
then cut Takehiro's bonds and ran away. Takehiro grabbed Masago's fallen
dagger and plunged it into his chest. Shortly before he died, he sensed
someone creep up to him and steal the dagger from his chest. Throughout, it
is obvious that he is furious at his wife.

Contents

Preface
Part 1: East Asia - Japan, Korea And China
    Introduction 3
    Yosano Akiko (1878-1942) [Japan] 15
	Three Modern Tanka: Purple Butterflies, Last Autumn; The day when mountains move
    Han Yong-Un (1879-1944) [Korea] 17
	Ferryboat and Traveler; On Tagore's “The Gardener"
    Lu Xun (Lu Hsun, 1881-1944) [China] 19
	My Old Home
    Tanizaki Junichiro (1886-1972) [Japan] 28
	The Tattooer
    Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1892-1927) [Japan] 35
	In a Grove
    Mao Zhedong (Mao Tse Tung, 1893-1976) [China] 43
	Swimming
    Mao Dun (Mao Tun, 1896-1982) [China] 45
	Spring Silkworms
    Kawabata Yasunari (1899-1972) [Japan] 65
	The Silver Fifty-Sen Pieces
    Kim Sowol (1902-1934) [Korea] 70
	The Road
    Ding Ling (1904-1986) [China] 71
	A Certain Night
    Enchi Fumiko (1905-1986) [Japan] 76
	Boxcar of Chrysanthemums
    Hirabayashi Taiko (1905-1972) [Japan] 90
	A Man's Life
    Kato Shuson (b. 1905) [Japan] 103
	Three Modern Haiku
    Yi Sang (1910-1937) [Korea] 105
	Wings
    Xiao Hong (Hsiao Hung, 1911-1942) [China] 119
	The Crossroads
    Hwang Sun-Won (b. 1915) [Korea] 124
	Cranes
    So Chong-Ju (b. 1915) [Korea] 129
	The Huge Wave
    Chi' Chun (b. 1918) [Taiwan] 130
	The Chignon
    Abe Kobo (b. 1924) [Japan] 135
	The Red Cocoon
    Mishima Yukio (1925-1970) [Japan] 139
	The Damask Drum
    Kim Namjo (b. 1927) [Korea] 156
	Having Come to the Mountain
    Ariyoshi Sawako (1931-1984) [Japan] 157
	Tomoshibi
    Ko Un (b. 1933) [Korea] 171
	Lee Chongnam
    Tomioka Taeko (b.1935) [Japan] 173
	Just the Two of Us
    Bai Xian-Yong (Pai Hsien- yung, b. 1937) [Taiwan] 175
	A Sea of Blood-Red Azaleas
    Jia-Lin Peng (b. 1948) [China] 185
	What's in a Name
    Bei Dao (b. 1949) [China] 185
	Electric Shock; Language

Part 2: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand 195
    Introduction
    Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) [India] 207
	Chandalika; Where the Mind is Without Fear
    Ho Chi Minh (1890- 1969) [Vietnam] 217
	Noon; Transferred to Nanning
    R. K. Narayan (b. 1909) [India] 219
	Trail of the Green Blazer
    Raja Rao (b. 1909) [India] 224
	Companions
    Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1910-1984) [Pakistan] 231
	Ghazal
    Umashankar Joshi (1911-1988) [India] 233
	the Universal Man
    Bienvenido N. Santos (b. 1911) [Philippines] 245
	Footnote to a Laundry List
    Amador Daguio (b. 1912) [Philippines] 245
	Wedding Dance
    Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) [Pakistan] 252
	The Dog of Titwal
    Amrita Pritam (b. 1919) [India] 257
	The Weed
    Oodjeroo Noonuccal (b. 1920) [Australia] 263
	Municipal Guam
    Mochtar Lubis (b. 1922) [Indonesia] 264
	Harimau!
    Nissim Ezekiel (b. 1924) [India] 277
	The Night of the Scorpion
    Pramoedya Toer (b. 1925) [Indonesia] 279
	Inem
    Mahasweta Devi (b. 1926) [India] 290
	Dhowli
    Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926) [Vietnam] 312
	The Pine Gate
    Jayanta Mahapatra (b. 1928) [India] 320
	30 January 1982: A Story (Poem)
    Hyllus Maris (b. 195?) [Australia] 322
	Spiritual Song of the Aborigine
    Abdullah Hussain (b. 1931) [Pakistan] 323
	The Tale of the Old Fisherman
    Tan Kong Peng (b. 1932) [Singapore/Malaya] 331
	A Jungle Passage
    Ranjini Obeyesekere (b. 1933) [Sri Lanka] 337
	Despair
    Edwin Thumboo (b. 1933) [Singapore/Malaya] 341
	Christman Week 1975
    Kevin Gilbert, Wiradjuri (b. 1933) [Australia] 343
	Kiacatoo
    Kamala Das (b. 1934) [India] 345
	An Introduction
    Anita Desai (b. 1937) [India] 348
	A Devoted Son
    Patricia Grace (b. 1937) [New Zealand] 356
	It Use to Be Green Once
    Khalida Asghar (b. 1938) [Pakistan] 361
	The Wagon
    Shashi Deshpande (b. 1938) [India] 371
	My Beloved Charioteer
    Mudrooroo Nyoongah (Colin Johnson, b. 1938) [Australia] 378
	Poem Two
    Catherine Lim (b. 1942) [Singapore/Malaya] 380
	Ah Bah's Money
    Witi Ihimaera (b. 1944) [New Zealand] 384
	Yellow Brick Road
    Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) [India] 390
	An Iff and a Butt
    Sally Morgan (b. 195?) [Sri Lanka] 391
	Arthur Corunna's Story
    M. A. Nuhman (b. 195?) [Sri Lanka] 400
	Murder (Poem)

Part 3. The Middle East 417
    Introduction
    Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) [Lebanon] 422
	On Children
    Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) [Turkey] 423
	12 December 1945
    Sadiq Hidayat (1903-1951) [Iran] 425
	Seeking Absolution
    Ya'akob Yehoshua (b. 1905) [Israel] 433
	Childhood in On Jerusalem
    Fadwa Tuqan (b. 1917) [Palestine] 435
	Song of Becoming
    Simin Danishvar (b. 1921) [Iran] 437
	The Half-Closed Eye
    Etel Adnan (b. 1925) [Lebanon] 459
	In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country
    Ahmad Shamlu (b. 1925) [Iran] 457
	The Gap
    Abdall ah al-Baraduni (b. 1929) [Yemen] 458
	Answers to the One Question
    Shimon Ballas (b. 1930) [Israel] 459
	Imaginary Childhood
    Mohammed Khudayyir (b. 193?) [Iraq] 466
	Clocks Like Horses
    Foarugh Farrokhzad (1935-1967) [Iran] 476
	The Wind-up Doll
    Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972) [Palestine] 479
	The Slave Fort
    Hushang Golshiri (b. 1937) [Iran] 483
	The Wolf
    Abd al-Aziz al-Maqalih (b. 1939) [Yemen] 490
	Sanaa is Hungry
    Muhammed Abd al-Wali (1940-1973) [Yemen] 491
	Abu Rubbiya
    Saeed Aulaqi (b. 1940) [Yemen] 496
	The Succession
    Mahmoud Darwish (b. 1942) [Palestine] 503
	Guests on the Sea
    Erez Bitton (b. 1949) [Israel] 506
	Something on Madness
    Fawziyya Abu Khalid (b. 1955) [Saudi Arabia] 508
	A Pearl
    Shelley Elkayam (b. 1956) [Israel] 509
	The Crusader Man
    Abd al-Hameed Ahmad (b. 1957) [United Arab Emirates] 510
	Khlalah SEL

Part 4: Africa 521
    Introduction
    Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978) [Kenya] 526
	Gentlemen of the Jungle
    Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1901- 1937 [Madagascar] 529
	Flute Players
    Yahya Haqqi (b. 1905) [Egypt] 531
	The Tavern Keeper
    Leopold Sedar Senghor (b. 1906) [Senegal] 534
	Prayer to Masks
    Naguib Mahfouz (b. 1911) [Egypt] 536
	Half-a-Day
    Es'Kia Mphahlele (b. 1919) [South Africa] 539
	Interlude
    Amos Tutuola (b. 1920) [Nigeria] 545
	The Gentlemen of Complete Parts
    Gabriel Okara (b. 1921) [Nigeria] 553
	You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
    Augustinho Neto (1922-1979) [Angola] 555
	Kinaxixi
    Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923) [South Africa] 557
	Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants
    Christopher Okigbo (1923-1967) [Nigeria] 568
	Come Thunder
    Sembene Ousmane (b. 1923) [Senegal] 569
	March of the Women
    Dennis Brutus (b. 1924) [South Africa] 582
	Nightsong: City
    Camara Laye (1924-1980) [Guinea] 584
	The Goldsmith
    Efua Sutherland (b. 1924) [Ghana] 589
	New Life at Kyerefaso
    Can Themba (b. 1924-1968) [South Africa] 595
	The Suit
    Noemia de Sousa (b. 1927) [Mozambique] 604
	If You Want to Know Me
    David Diop (b. 1927) [Senegal] 606
	The Vultures
    Yusuf Idris (b. 1927) [Egypt] 607
	The Chair Carrier
    Chinua Achebe (b. 1930) [Nigeria] 612
	The Madman
    R. Sarif Easmon (b. 1930) [Sierra Leone] 619
	Bindeh's Gift
    Grace Ogot (b. 1930) [Kenya] 628
	The Rain Came
    Nawal El Saadawi (b. 1931) [Egypt] 637
	She Has No Place in Paradise
    Flora Nwapa (1931-1993) [Nigeria] 643
	The Chief's Daughter
    Tchiokaya UTam'si (1931-1988) [Congo] 651
	Brush-fire
    Athol Fugard (b. 1932), John Kani (b. 1943), and Winston Ntshona
	(b. 1942?) [South Africa] 653
	The Island
    Okot p'Bitek (1932-1982) [Uganda] 679
	Song of Lawino
    Lenrie Peters (b. 1932) [Gambia] 695
	Isatou Died
    Kofi Awoonor (b. 1935) [Ghana] 696
	The Weaver Bird
    J. P. Clarke Bekederemo (b. 1935) [Nigeria] 698
	The Leader
    Wole Soyinka (b. 1935) [Nigeria] 699
	The Strong Breed
    Costa Andrade (b. 1936) [Angola] 729
	Fourth Poem of the Canto of Accusation
    Assia Djebar (b. 1936) [Algieria] 730
	There is No Exile
    Bessie Head (1937- 1988) [South Africa] 740
	The Collector of Treasures
    Keorapetse Kgositsile (b. 1938) [South Africa] 757
	The Air I Hear
    Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (b. 1938) [Kenya] 758
	Wedding at the Cross
    Ayi Kwei Armah (b. 1939) [Ghana] 770
	Halfway to Nirvana
    Molara Ogundipe- Leslie (b. 1940) [Nigeria] 775
	Song at the African Middle Class
    Ama Ata Aidoo (b. 1942) [Ghana] 777
	In the Cutting of a Drink
    Syl Cheney Coker (b. 1945) [Sierra Leone] 783
	The Philosopher
    Jack Mapanje (b. 1945) [Malawi] 785
	On African Writing
    Charles Mungoshi (b. 1947) [Zimbabwe] 786
	Shadows on the Wall
    Zoe Wicomb (b. 1948 [South Africa] 791
	You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town

Part 5. Latin America and The Caribbean 807
    Introduction
    Antonio Gonzalez Bravo (1885-1962) [Bolivia] 816
	Kori Pilpintu
    Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) [Chile] 817
	Song
    Claude McKay (1890-1948) [Jamaica]  819
	Crazy Mary
    Cesar Vallejo (1892-1938) [Peru] 825
	The Eternal Dice
    Jesus Lara (1898-1980) [Bolivia] 827
	Incallajta Jarahui
    Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974) [Guatemala] 828
	Legend of “El Cadejo 170
    Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1980) [Argentina] 833
	The Gospel According to Mark
    Carlos Drummond De Andrade (1902- 1967) [Brazil] 839
	An Ox Looks at Man
    Nicolas Guillen (b. 1902) [Cuba] 840
	Arrival
    Silvina Ocampo (b. 1903) [Argentina] 842
	The Servants' Slaves
    Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980) [Cuba] 849
	Like the Night
    Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) [Chile] 860
	The heights of Macchu Picchu III; The Chilean Forest
    Jacques Roumain (1907-1944) [Haiti] 870
	Delira Deliverance
    Joao Guimaraes Rosa (1908-1967) [Brazil] 878
	The Third Bank of the River
    Juan Bosch (b. 1909) [Dominican Republic] 883
	The Beautiful Soul of Don Damian
    Juan Carlos Onetti (b. 1909) [Uruguay] 890
	A Dream Come True
    Maria Luisa Bombal (1910?-1980) [Chile] 901
	Sky, Sea, and Earth
    Rachel de Queiroz (b. 1910) [Brazil] 905
	The Tangerine Girl
    Jorge Amado (b. 1912) [Brazil] 910
	Of Dice and Unshakable Principles
    Leon Damas (1912-1978) [French Guiana] 915
	Poems
    Walter Montenegro (1912-1991) [Bolivia] 917
	El Pepino
    Aime Cesaire (b. 1913) [Matinique] 924
	To Africa
    Julio Cortazar (1914-1984) [Argentina] 927
	Our Demeanor at Wakes
    Julia de Burgos (1914-1958) [Puerto Rico] 931
	To Julia de Burgos
    Octavio Paz (b. 1914) [Mexico] 934
	Return
    Joseph Zobel (b. 1915) [Martinique] 937
	Mr. Medouze
    Murilo Rubiao (b. 1916) [Brazil] 942
	Taleco, The Rabbit
    Juan Rulfo (1918-1986) [Mexico] 949
	Tell Them Not to Kill Me
    Wilson Harris (b. 1921) [Guyana] 955
	Yurokon
    Rubem Fonseca (b. 1922) [Brazil] 967
	Night Drive
    Jose Donoso (b. 1924) [Chile] 969
	Paseo
    Lygia Fagundes Telles (b. 1924) [Brazil] 983
	The Ants
    Ernesto Cardenal (b. 1925) [Nicaragua] 990
	The Filibusters
    Rosario Castellanos (1925-1978) [Mexico] 992
	Daily Round of the Spinster
    Martin Carter (b. 1927) [Guyana] 994
	Listening to the Land
    Carlos Fuentes (b. 1928) [Mexico] 995
	Chac-Mool
    Gabriel Garcia Marquez (b. 1928) [Colombia] 1004
	The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World
    Derek Walcott (b. 1930) [Saint Lucia] 1009
	I Once Gave My Daughters...; The Season of Phantasmal Peace
    V.S. Naipaul (b. 1932) [Trinidad] 1012
	My Aunt Gold Teeth
    Manuel Puig (1932-1990) [Argentina] 1020
	Kiss of the Spider Woman
    Austin Clarke (b. 1934) [Barbados] 1060
	Leaving This Island Place
    Earl Lovelace (b. 1935) [Trinidad] 1067
	The Fire Eater's Journey
    Mario Vargas Llosa (b. 1936) [Peru] 1077
	A Shadow of Gnats
    Maryse Conde (b. 1935) [Guadaloupe] 1087
	Mira
    Nelida Pinon (b. 1937) [Brazil] 1097
	Brief Flower
    Simone Swarz-Bart (b. 1937) [Guadaloupe] 1103
	Toussine
    Olive Senior (b. 1941) [Jamaica] 1114
	Do Angels Wear Brassieres?
    Cesar Verduguez (b. 1941) [Bolivia] 1124
	The Scream in Your Silence
    Isabel Allende (b. 1942) [Chile] 1135
	Our Secret
    Antonio Cisneros (b. 1942) [Peru] 1139
	After the Battle of Ayacucho: A Mother's Testimony
    Rosario Ferre (b. 1942). [Puerto Rico] 1141
	The Youngest Doll
    Ana Lydia Vega (b. 1946) [Puerto Rico] 1146
	ADJ Inc.
    Rigoberta Menchu (b. 1951) [Guatemala] 1155
	The Death of Dona Petrona Chona
    Opal Palmer Adisa (b. 1954) [Jamaica] 1159
	Duppy Get Her

Appendix 1: Bibliography of Additional Primary and Secondary Reading
Alternate Thematic Table of Contents
Alternate Table of Contents by Genre
Index by Author, Title, and First Line of Poems