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On this page participants, are able to share thoughts, website links and other things. Send your ideas, links and such to jwallace@berkeley.edu or give me something in writing on any Sunday.
I'm tossing things I run across into a YouTube playlist called SAAFa15 Genji Women. At the moment there are a couple of episodes of Begin Japanology on Genji which are just OKish but somewhat useful as general information, a 1951 version of the film which I know nothing about, I just bumped into it, and the first episode of a very popular anime version of it. I'm sure I will add as the course progresses. Go to: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD9ZjRaNoD_uy5W-6gkpYHdEb-BGG3k22
1) I am struck by how much crossover there is between Genji's situation (being cared for by his grandmother since his mother has died) and the love of his life, Murasaki (who was also cared for my her grandmother -- I think -- after her mother died). That is one layer. The next layer (crossover) is the visit in the moonlight to the house in disrepair by the messenger from the emperor after the death of the Kiritsubo Consort which reminds me a lot of Genji's visit in the moonlight to the Safflower Woman (Suetsumuhana) in Chapter 15.
2) How odd it is that the Kiritsubo Emperor seems to get gentle, respectful, even loving treatment by the narrator although this death of the Kiritsubo Consort is most definitely his fault. The narrator seems to have more sympathy for him than for her. ... But, then, he is Genji's father and there is a certain "life father like son" aspect to this story, and this is the setup for Genji's later romantic adventurism.
(your email on your site, is not opening at least not now...) Lest I forget, having read chapters 10 and 11, in Genji a week ago, before five days hiking in Yosemite, last class discussion viewed Genji and his attitude towards women as narcisstic, male dominant, and philandering. I was struck by how in 10, now that he is no longer in adolesence and 25 years of age, he shows some "remorse" (heart ache) with regard to so many minor dalliances, and is chastened by sadness and sorrow at the loss of the Heir Apparent's mother, in her physical decline, and then chosing the role of a nun. Essentially, Genji develops a conscience..and " was moved by the prick of conscience to feel the world's censure keenly." ... He kept thinkng how dismally he was squandering his own existence." In both 10 and 11, there are thoughts about returning in memory to the past and making it present...which shows a change of a way of thinking for Genji, rather than his concentration on the adolescent pleasures of the moment. It is also implied that he has "consideration" for the women he has known, rather than being a thoughtless cad, which was somewhat the view in the first chapters. .
Discussion in the last class posed the question of whether the novel is about "love" and whether Genji can love. Genji witnesses in himself an adjusted consciousness in Chapter 10, which proves itself in a more thoughtful? attitude on display in Chapter 11.
What Tyler translates as "the world" means, of course, "society" or the "world" in which these courtiers live?!
I hope to hear discussion on this transformation or maturation in Genji, through the lessons of loss and sorrow, in the next class. Of course, I have yet to read Chapters 12-15, where Genji may return to his old ways. Murasaki's fiction is a beautiful work of art.
I found that Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons. Nature, Literature and the Arts, by Haruo Shirane was immensely helpful, in now reading GENJI, for interpreting the nuance of seasonal references.
I also listen to koto and a recording of "Natural Sounds of Japan" by Andrew Roth and Yasuhisa Yamada for evocative atmospheric sounds. Listening to Japanese flute, like Genji plays would also capture "mood". Recordings that are "linked" to the text would be interesting.
Speaking of Women — What about the important role played by the 'ladies in waiting"? Particularly in the Uji chapters they move the action along, now conniving, now cajoling, almost always looking out for themselves. At times they are a sort of baleful Greek chorus that highlights the anxiety of the lady in question. Murasaki (the author) clearly knows them well!
Speaking of Men — What's more male then drunken rowdiness? Particularly among royals! The paucity of such scenes is notable (I confess I got to thinking about this after reading Waley's intro which quotes at length from Murasaki's diary about such deplorable behavior). Are there other 'omissions' by the author that reflect her mindset in crafting Genji?
Let's not forget religion — In the Genji chapters, Buddhism is in the air and the water; it is (by and large) the framework people reference to understand what has happened to them.
By the Uji period, Buddhist concerns are actively directing peoples actions and thoughts – Prince Hachi dies without seeing his daughters off 'to insure his salvation in the next life', Kaoru hesitates before love when his understood desire is to 'withdraw from the world'. Nuns and prelates pop up page after page, often struggling in vain to reconcile their beliefs with the expectations of secular authority. Ukifune, for example, is basically saved because the nun Imoto 'adopts' her as the reincarnation of a lost daughter — surely not doctrinal orthodoxy for one withdrawn from the world. A whole chorus of nuns try to dissuade Ukifune from the habit: 'it's all well and good for an old woman, but one so young and beautiful???' It seems to me that the role(s) of religion in this cosmos is ambiguous and fraught with contradiction (as it is in fact nearly everywhere).
Death is the Answer? — The two half-sisters find their situation so intolerable that death seems the only alternative. I thought the fate of Oigimi was as sad as it could get – bullied by religion, her own sense of social inferiority, and Kaoru's reticence she wills herself to death.
But Ukifune trumps her for sure — she dies twice! Unable to choose between admiration for Kaoru, and passion for Niou, she opts for suicide. Later, when her senses return, she recalls Kaoru's kindness, Niou's callousness, and chooses again to die-by taking up the habit and putting aside family, friends, and would-be lover. This act of denial is astonishing – the magnitude of her guilty remembrance looms palpably before us. She dies again to the world.