Reading The Tale of Genji

Thomas L. Harper

ISBN 10: 0231166583 / ISBN 13: 9780231166584

Published by Columbia University Press Dez 2015, 2015

About this Item

Neuware - Written one thousand years ago, The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of Japanese literature, often regarded as its best prose fiction. Read, commented on, and reimagined by poets, scholars, dramatists, artists, and novelists, the tale has left a legacy as rich and reflective as the work itself. The most comprehensive record of The Tale of Genji's reception to date, this sourcebook presents a range of landmark texts relating to the work during its first millennium, almost all of which are translated into English for the first time. An introduction prefaces each set of documents, situating them within the tradition of Japanese literature and cultural history. These texts provide a fascinating glimpse into Japanese views of literature, poetry, imperial politics, and the place of art and women in society. Selections include a recorded conversation among court ladies gossiping about their favorite Genji characters and scenes; learned exegetical commentary; a vigorous debate over Genji's moral concerns; and an impassioned defense of Genji's ability to enhance Japan's standing among the twentieth century's community of nations.Taken together, these documents reflect Japan's fraught history with vernacular texts, particularly those written by women.

Seller Inventory # 9780231166584

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Reading The Tale of Genji
• Publisher: Columbia University Press Dez 2015
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231166583
• ISBN 13: 9780231166584
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 238W x 159H x 44D millimeters 238 millimeters width by 159 millimeters height by 44 millimeters depth
• Weight: 982 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The Tale of Genji, written one thousand years ago, is a masterpiece of Japanese literature, is often regarded as the best prose fiction in the language. Read, commented on, and reimagined by poets, scholars, dramatists, artists, and novelists, the tale has left a legacy as rich and reflective as the work itself.

This sourcebook is the most comprehensive record of the reception of The Tale of Genji to date. It presents a range of landmark texts relating to the work during its first millennium, almost all of which are translated into English for the first time. An introduction prefaces each set of documents, situating them within the tradition of Japanese literature and cultural history. These texts provide a fascinating glimpse into Japanese views of literature, poetry, imperial politics, and the place of art and women in society. Selections include an imagined conversation among court ladies gossiping about their favorite characters and scenes in Genji; learned exegetical commentary; a vigorous debate over the morality of Genji; and an impassioned defense of Genji's ability to enhance Japan's standing among the twentieth century's community of nations. Taken together, these documents reflect Japan's fraught history with vernacular texts, particularly those written by women.

About the Author

Thomas Harper is retired from the Centre for Japanese and Korean Studies at Leiden University. He is the translator of In Praise of Shadows and other essays by Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, and the author of a number of scholarly articles on the reception of The Tale of Genji.

Haruo Shirane, Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture at Columbia University, is the author and editor of numerous books on Japanese literature, including, most recently, Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts; Envisioning The Tale of Genji: Media, Gender, and Cultural Production; Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600; Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900; Classical Japanese: A Grammar; Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Basho; and A Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of The Tale of Genji.