EALC 275: Masterpieces of East Asian Literature Lecture #10: The Tale of Genji 1 Sept.27, 2013The Heian world: Aesthetic concepts 1. Miyabi(雅): “courtliness” refinement, elegance -- refined aesthetic sensibility -- subtle suggestivenessThe Heian world: Aesthetic concepts 2. Mono-no-aware(物の哀れ): “the pathos of things” sensitivity to things -- transience/impermanence as beauty -- Cultivation, taste, compassion, poetic sensitivity, tormented soul, the ability to reflect upon one’s own conditions upon seeing a thing in nature • Ephemerality of life • Emotive intensity in the paired form: love/melancholy, jealousy/rage, shame/self-consciousness, docility/venerability, etc. • Psychological depthThe Heian world: Aesthetic concepts 3. Okashi: “lightness,” amusing, interesting -- celebrated in Sei Shonagon’s Pillow BookThe Tale of Genji • Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973-c.1014) --Contemporary of Sei Shonagon (c. 968-c.1025) • Real name is unknown • Daughter of a minor branch of the Fujiwara clan • Lady-in-waiting to Empress ShōshiThe Tale of Genji • 54 chapters • The first psychological novel in the world • Part of the flowering of the Heian literatureThe Tale of Genji • Poetry in narrative --Exchange of poetry: an expected part of romantic (and other) relationships --In form of tanka • A note on names --Characters are usually not referred to by their personal namesChapter 1: Kiritsubo • Allusion to consort Yang’s story (p.25) • --one insignificant consort enjoys exclusive favor • --Destroyed by jealousy and malignance • --The mourning emperor, gazes at pictures representing “The Song of Everlasting Sorrow” (p.32) • --Kiritsubo left a son who is GenjiChapter 1: The Shining One • Who is Genji? -- the emperor’s favorite son -- Korean physiognomist’s predictions on Genji’s fate -- made a commoner of Genji clan for his protection A different kind of hero? -- ideal but not idealized -- relationships with different types of women -- Is Genji similar to or different from the classic western romantic hero?Chapter 1: Fujitsubo • Equally refined + higher rank • The boy Genji’s obsession with her • Genji is drawn to her based on her physical resemblance to the deceased Kiritsubo Lady (pp.36-37, p.39) • Theme of resemblance, doubles, surrogatesChapter 1: Genji’s marriage • A politically advantageous marriage • Strained on both sides (pp.39) • --“But to the daughter, who was a little the older of the two, the match seemed unsuitable and embarrassing.” • --“His Lordship’s daughter seems pretty and well-bred, but I don’t really care for her.” • Daughter of the minister of the left, AoiSexual politics in Heian world • First marriage -- Arranged by parents -- For the sake of status -- at young age • Secondary wives -- Lower status -- Unstable -- Vulnerability of their children • Women waiting for visiting menChapter 2: the Broom Tree, 1 • A long conversation on a rainy night • Ideal women: 1. --Hidden flower -- “What would be amazing would be to discover an unbelievably sweet, appealing maiden shut up in a lonely, dilapidated, vine-choked dwelling, her very existence unknown to others.” (p.44) • Foreshadowing Genji’s relationship with YugaoChapter 2: the Broom Tree, 2 2.—Raise a wife from childhood -- “Actually, it’s not a bad idea to look for a completely childlike, docile woman, train her a little, and marry her. The man may have misgivings about her reliability, but at least he can feel that she’s educable” (p.46) • Foreshadowing Genji’s relationship with Muraskai3. Jealous women: the counter example: The men reach the consensus that an ideal woman should “remain calm in every situation, merely hints at her knowledge of causes for jealousy, and speaks only in unobjectionable, roundabout fashion of matters at which she might easily take offense.” (p.47) • Genji falls asleep during this discussion Chapter 2: the Broom Tree, 3Female jealousy: in the eyes of the young men Jealous women: the counter example --lack of self-control --unnecessary and annoying --intolerable flaw --monstrous and destructiveChapter 4: Yugao The Rokujo Lady vis-à-vis Yugao Parallel presentation • Yugao? -- “evening faces” -- The beautiful flowers on the rickety fence -- the unusual beauty in a shabby place -- lower social classThe Rokujo Lady • High rank: Miyabi -- “At his destination, everything bespoke a degree of comfort and elegance not to be found in the common run of dwellings…The mistress was an exceptionally dignified, correct woman.” (p.62) • Pitiful: -- “…there had been a perceptible diminution in his ardor since he had overcome her stubborn resistance. Others wondered why his present feelings lacked the passion that had driven him before she was his.” (p.63) • Jealous: --“If only he could rid the other of her excessive sensitivity, of the touchiness that made a visitor so uncomfortable.” (p.72)Yugao: an enigma How is she first introduced to the reader and Genji? --in the conversation of the rainy night What is their first encounter like? --Fan, calligraphy, poetry --absence of the body vs. the presence of her tasteYugao: an enigma • Complete submissiveness • --in keeping with the imagery of the yugao flower • --Genji's vow to her --issue of class • Her mysterious and errie death • Anime version of the Tale of Genji: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYwJaO88mm4&list=PLDD17121561BFAA1ASpirit Possession by Rokujo Lady • “About halfway through the first part of the night, as he lay asleep, he dreamed that a beautiful woman seated herself next to his pillow. ‘I considered you the most splendid of men,’ she said, ‘but you can’t be bothered to visit me. Instead, you bring this common creature here to bask in your attentions. It is too mortifying!’ She seized his companion to pull her up. Starting awake as though from a nightmare, he saw that the lamp had gone out…” (p.72) • Horror story?The Motif of Dream • Lady Rokujo visits Genji in dreams twice in Chapter 4 (pp.72-73 and p.83) • How do these dreams function as literary devices? 1. Simultaneity --blurred boundary between dream and reality 2. Transgression --repressed feelings find an outlet, psychological realism 3. Prophecy --auspicious signs predicting things to comeA horror story