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Sei Shonagon

(Encyclopedia)Sei Shonagon sĕē shōˈnäˈgōn [key], c.966?-?, Japanese poet and essayist of the mid-Heian period. She is best known for her Makura no sôshi [pillow book], a collection of anecdotes, reflections...

Frisch, Max

(Encyclopedia)Frisch, Max, 1911–91, Swiss writer. He obtained a diploma in architecture in 1941, and his designs included the Zürich Recreation Park. After 1955 he became recognized as one of Europe's major lite...

shogun

(Encyclopedia)shogun shōˈgŭnˌ [key], title of the feudal military administrator who from the 12th cent. to the 19th cent. was, as the emperor's military deputy, the actual ruler of Japan. The title itself, Sei-...

Pirandello, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Pirandello, Luigi lwēˈjē pērändĕlˈlō [key], 1867–1936, Italian author, b. Sicily. One of the great figures in 20th-century European theater, Pirandello was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Li...

Japanese literature

(Encyclopedia)Japanese literature, literary works produced in the language of the islands of Japan. See also Asian drama. The immense public demand for fiction in postwar Japan has been fed by the prolific o...

Anglican Communion

(Encyclopedia)Anglican Communion, the body of churches in all parts of the world that are in communion with the Church of England (see England, Church of). The communion is composed of regional churches, provinces,...

whale

(Encyclopedia)whale, aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, found in all oceans of the world. Members of this order vary greatly in size and include the largest animals that have ever lived. Cetaceans never leave the...