Joi
n us for an online talk by Dr. Małgorzata K. Citko-DuPlantis (University of
Tennessee\, Knoxville)\, who will be discussing her book project on the
This talk considers Man’yōshū—Jap an’s earliest anthology of vernacular poetry—as a continuously evolving and unstable discourse. The collection’s medieval life unfolded through a wide range of its manuscripts\, commentaries\, handbooks\, poetic contests\, pr ivate compilations\, and oral teachings. These materials formed a layered a nd uneven network of transmission through which poets and scholars engaged\ , reorganized\, and reimagined the anthology. In this world of partial acce ss and competing lineages\, Man’yōshū functioned as a flexible bod y of knowledge whose boundaries were constantly shifting.
Dr. Citko-D uPlantis traces how these medieval modes of reading and reinterpretation ge nerated a vibrant culture of instability\, one in which new meanings emerge d through allusion\, rearrangement\, and commentary. Rather than diminishin g the anthology’s authority\, this instability enabled its continual renewa l and made it available to a wide array of intellectual and creative projec ts. The lecture also considers how later eras—particularly in modern Japan— drew on this long-standing pattern of reuse and recontextualization.
This talk is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the Japan F oundation Toronto.
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Date & Time:
Thursday\, January 15\, 2026 | 4:0
0pm – 5:30pm PT
Location:
Online via Zoom
Małgorzata K. Citko-DuPlantis is a scholar of premodern Japane se literature whose work brings new attention to the ways classical texts a re studied\, transmitted\, and repurposed across time. An Assistant Profess or of Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Tennessee\, Knox ville\, she has published in leading journals including Monumenta Nippo nica\, Journal of Japanese Studies\, and Japanese Languag e and Literature. Her research on Man’yōshū’s reception has s haped both academic and public conversations\, including her development of the framework “Man’yōshū as soft power.” A recipient of awards an d fellowships from Japan Foundation\, Fulbright\, and MEXT\, and an invited speaker at many international institutions\, she bridges literary history\ , cultural politics\, and global media studies.
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