ENVIRONMENTAL REPRESENTATION FROM TANIKAWA SHUNTAROU’S POEM: AN ECOCRITIC APPROACH

Abstract

Tanikawa Shuntarou is a Japanese poet who was born in 1931 and also works as a translator and picture book author. His poetry has been widely read and translated into English. The puns and rhymes in Tanikawa's poems are well known. Tanikawa's poetry covers a wide range of topics, including human relationships, fantasy, and the environment. However, few people are aware that Tanikawa's environmental poetry can be analyzed through the lens of literary ecocriticism. The study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment is known as literary ecocriticism. Ecocriticism can present the author's representation, attitudes, and perspectives on the surrounding environment, whereas literature can express ideas about the environment. Humans cannot exist apart from their surroundings. Based on this premise, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the representation of nature and the environment in Tanikawa Shuntarou's poetry. The literary ecocritic approcah will be an ethical study that looks at the cultural and ecological dimensions of Tanikawa Shuntarou's poetry.