Bringing together scholars from across the world, Haruo Shirane presents a fascinating portrait of The Tale of Genji's reception and reproduction over the past thousand years. The essays examine the canonization of the work from the late Heian through the medieval, Edo, Meiji, Taisho, Showa, and Heisei periods, revealing its profound influence on a variety of genres and fields, including modern nation building. They also consider parody, pastiche, and re-creation of the text in various popular and mass media. Since the Genji was written by a woman for female readers, contributors also take up the issue of gender and cultural authority, looking at the novel's function as a symbol of Heian court culture and as an important tool in women's education. Throughout the volume, scholars discuss achievements in visualization, from screen painting and woodblock prints to manga and anime. Taking up such recurrent themes as cultural nostalgia, eroticism, and gender, this book is the most comprehensive history of the reception of The Tale of Genji to date, both in the country of its origin and throughout the world.
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Note to the Reader
- 1. The Tale of Gengi and the Dynamics of Cultural Production: Canonization and Popularization
- PART i The Late Heian and Medieval Periods: Cout Culture, Gender, and Representation
- 2. Figure and Fracture in the Genji Scrolls: Text, Calligraphy, Paper, and Painting
- 3. The Tale of Genji and the Development of Female-Spirit No
- 4. Monochromatic Genji: The Hakubyo Tradition and Female Commentarial Culture
- 5. Genre Trouble: Medieval Commentaries and Canonization of the Tale of Genji
- PART II The Edo Period: Warrior Society, Education, and Popular Culture
- 6. Didactic Readings of The Tale of Genji: Politics and Women's Education
- 7. Genji Pictures from Momoyama Painting to Edo Ukiyo-e: Cultural Authority and New Horizons
- 8. The Splendor of Hybridity: Image and Text in Ryutei Tanehiko's Inaka Genji
- PART III The Meiji, Taisho, and Prewar Showa Periods: National Literature, World Literature, and Imperial Japan
- 9. The Tale of Genji, National Literature, Language, and Modernism
- 10. Wartime Japan, the Imperial Line, and The Tale of Genji
- PART IV The Postwar Showa and Heisei Periods: Visuality, Sexuality, and Mass Culture
- 11. The Tale of Genji in Postwar Film: Emperor, Aestheticism, and the Erotic
- 12. Sexuality, Gender, and The Tale of Genji in Modern Japanese Translations and Manga
- Chapter Titles of Th e Tale of Genji
- Selected Bibliography on The Tale of Genji and its Reception in English
- Contributors
- Photo Insert
- Index
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
Login to your account