Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji
2nd Edition
Richard Bowring, Selwyn College, Cambridge
October 2003
Available
Hardback
9780521832083
Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji, written in Japan in the early eleventh century, is acknowledged to be one of Japan's greatest literary achievements, and sometimes thought of as the world's first novel. This introduction to the Genji sketches its cultural background, offers detailed analysis of the text, including language and style, and traces the history of its reception through nine centuries of cultural change.
First Edition Hb (1988): 0-521-33349-0
First Edition Pb (1988): 0-521-33636-8
- New edition of a widely used and helpful guide to one of the greatest works of world literature - including a fully updated guide to further reading
- This introduction examines the cultural and linguistic as well as literary issues surrounding The Tale of Genji
- Written by an expert in the field who has taught this text for many years
Reviews & endorsements
'… an erudite commentary encouraging the reader to investigate one of the most important Japanese texts by exploring a plethora of ideas in a guided but open manner.' Forum for Modern Language Studies
Product details
October 2003Hardback
9780521832083
122 pages
206 × 135 × 12 mm
0.214kg
1 b/w illus. 1 table
Available
Related links
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Genji chapter titles
- Genealogical chart
- Part I. The Cultural Background:
- 1. Politics
- 2. Murasaki Shikibu
- 3. Religion
- 4. Language
- 5. A grammar of sexual relations
- 6. History and fiction
- Part II. The Tale of Genji:
- 7. Sexual politics (chapters 1-12)
- 8. Penance and restitution (chapters 12-21)
- 9. A prospect of flowers (chapters 22-33)
- 10. Dangerous obsessions (chapters 34-41)
- 11. A passion for self-destruction (chapters 42-54)
- Part III. Language and style:
- 12. The narrator's presence
- 13. Kashiwagi's tortured mind
- 14. Equivocal narration
- 15. Poetry in prose
- 16. Translations
- Part IV. Impact, Influence and Reception:
- 17. Early textual history
- 18. Murasaki in hell
- 19. Medieval commentaries
- 20. Tokugawa readings
- 21. Modern readings
- Guide to further reading.
