Taira Tadanori is among the most famous heroes from the Genpei War (1180-1185), the divisive civil conflict that brought Japan’s first warrior government to power. Renowned both as a poet and a man of arms, Tadanori is commemorated in the epic war tale recounting the conflict, The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari), as well as several noh plays, including the eponymous Tadanori. This presentation addresses the way that play meditates Tadanori’s dual identity as a warrior-poet and explores the poetic and battlefield landscapes that define him, demonstrating how language and place reveal hidden, traumatic absences.

Professor Oyler is Associate Professor of the Department of East Asian Languages and Director of the Center for Pacific and Asian Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The talk is sponsored the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh.