Reference
- Japanese literatureAlthough Japanese and Chinese are different languages, the Japanese borrowed and adapted Chinese ideographs early in the 8th cent. in order to render their spoken language in written form. Because Japanese is better suited to phonetic transcription, the result is a language of extremely complicated linguistic construction...
- Murasaki ShikibuLady Murasaki Shikibu, recognized as Japan's greatest author, wrote The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), the world's first novel and one of the best. Her reputation parallels that of Shakespeare: Her obscurity and her family's low position in the medieval Heian aristocracy have led a few to question the authenticity of her authorship of the Genji, a masterpiece that has wielded immeasurable influence over subsequent writers from her time to the present...
- The Tale of GenjiThe monumental masterpiece The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) was written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, circa 1001–1010, in Heian Japan. The most treasured classic of Japan, this extensive work is the world's first novel and one of its greatest. This early medieval Japanese classic is as complex as Dante's Divine Comedy and just as difficult to summarize and to generalize about. The work falls under the genre of monogatari—a romance tale in prose, but it is interspersed with nearly 800 poems. Ostensibly the protagonist is Genji (son of the emperor), but there is an enormous cast of characters, many of whom play central parts, and after Genji's death, attention shifts to subsequent generations.
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Lady Murasaki Writes the First Novel
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At the height of the Heian period, Japan was breaking away from Chinese influence and developing its own courtly culture, with women emerging as a powerful force in art and literature. Here you will meet Murasaki Shikibu, the woman who wrote the world’s first novel: The Tale of Genji.
Online Resources
- Murasaki Shikibu: BritannicaMurasaki Shikibu, (born c. 978, Kyōto, Japan—died c. 1014, Kyōto), Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genji monogatari (c. 1010; The Tale of Genji), generally considered the greatest work of Japanese literature and thought to be the world’s oldest full novel...
- The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated: METWith its vivid descriptions of courtly society, gardens, and architecture in early eleventh-century Japan, The Tale of Genji—recognized as the world's first novel—has captivated audiences around the globe and inspired artistic traditions for one thousand years. Its female author, Murasaki Shikibu, was a diarist, a renowned poet, and, as a tutor to the young empress, the ultimate palace insider; her monumental work of fiction offers entry into an elaborate, mysterious world of court romance, political intrigue, elite customs, and religious life. This handsomely designed and illustrated book explores the outstanding art associated with Genji through in-depth essays and discussions of more than one hundred works...
- The Tale of Genji: BritannicaThe Tale of Genji, Japanese Genji monogatari, masterpiece of Japanese literature by Murasaki Shikibu. Written at the start of the 11th century, it is generally considered the world’s first novel...
Perspectives
The Tale of Genji
The world's first novel, in a translation that is "likely to be the definitive edition . . . for many years to come" (The Wall Street Journal) A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with flaps and deckle-edged paper Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor. He is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic. Royall Tyler's superior translation is detailed, poetic, and superbly true to the Japanese original while allowing the modern reader to appreciate it as a contemporary treasure. Supplemented with detailed notes, glossaries, character lists, and chronologies to help the reader navigate the multigenerational narrative, this comprehensive edition presents this ancient tale in the grand style that it deserves.
The Splendor of Longing in the Tale of the Genji
Foremost among Japanese literary classics and one of the world's earliest novels, the Tale of Genji was written around the year A. D. 1000 by Murasaki Shikibu, a woman from a declining aristocratic family. For sophistication and insight, Western prose fiction was to wait centuries to rival her work. Norma Field explores the shifting configurations of the Tale, showing how the hero Genji is made and unmade by a series of heroines. Professor Field draws on the riches of both Japanese and Western Scholarship, as well as on her own sensitive reading of the Tale. Included are discussions of the social, psychological, and political dimensions of the aesthetics of this novel, with emphasis on the crucial relationship of erotic and political concerns to prose fictions. Norma Field is Assistant Professor of Far Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.
Heian Court Culture
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowJourney through Japan's first period of isolation (from the 800s to the 1300s) and the rise of the Heian court, ancient Japan's cultured and exclusive aristocracy. Along the way, you'll meet the powerful Fujiwara family and unpack how the novel The Tale of Genji reveals the court's penchant for scandal and intrigue.