A. Critical and Comparative Studies

55. Durnell, Hazel B. Japanese Cultural Influences on American Poetry and Drama. Tokyo: Hokuseido, 1983.

Durnell’s attempt to trace the full history of Japanese influence in American poetry and drama is flawed by lack of critical judgement, documentation so poor that notes and bibliography entries often cannot be traced, and numerous outright errors of fact. Useful only in suggesting the scope of influence. Includes discussion of Aiken, Bynner, Crapsey (see CA4), Eliot (see CA10), Fenollosa (D10), Ficke, Fletcher, Hearn (D9), Lowell, Stevens (see CA7), Thornton Wilder (see also 25, 30, and BL129), and others, and sections about haiku, tanka, the nô, and kabuki in the United States. The only notable review of the work is by Kevin Keane (Japan Quarterly 30 [1983]: 439-41), who finds it ‘a useful study’, but notes that ‘those who want a detailed analysis will have to look elsewhere’.