The poetry of the Heian court of Japan has typically been linked with the emergence of a distinct Japanese language and culture. This concept of a linguistically homogeneous and ethnically pure "Japaneseness" has been integral to the construction of a modern Japanese nation, especially during periods of western colonial expansion and cultural encroachment. But Thomas LaMarre argues in this analysis that this need for a cultural unity - a singular Japanese identity - has resulted in an overemphasis of a relatively minor aspect of Heian poetry, obscuring not only its other significant elements but also the porousness of Heian society and the politics of poetic expression. Combining a pathbreaking visual analysis of the calligraphy with which this poetry was transcribed, a more traditional textual analysis, and a review of the politics of the period, LaMarre presents a view of Heian poetry and culture. He challenges the assumption of a cohesive "national imagination", seeing instead an early Japan that is ethnically diverse, territorially porous, and indifferent to linguistic boundaries.
Working through the problems posed by institutionalized notions of nationalism, nativism and modernism, he rethinks the theories of scholars such as Suzuki Hideo, Yoshimoto Takaaki and Komatsu Shigemi, in conjunction with theorists such as Derrida, Karatani, Foucault and Deleuze. Contesting the notion that speech is central to the formation of community, the book focuses instead on the potential centrality of the more figural operations of poetic practice.