Genji Monogatari

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Handwritten page from 12th century paper scroll ( Gotō Museum of Art in Tokyo )

Genji Monogatari ( Japanese 源氏物語 , " The Story of Prince Genji ") is the first psychological novel in Japanese literary history and is attributed to the lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu (approx. 978-1014). It is occasionally considered to be the first novel ever, but this is controversial. The story of Prince Genji has a firm place in Japanese culture and is considered a work of outstanding importance.

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Chapter 15 - 蓬 生 Yomogiu . (Illustration from the roll of paper in the Tokugawa Art Museum)
Chapter 16 - 関 屋 Sekiya . (Tokugawa Art Museum paper roll)
Chapter 37 - 横笛 Yokobue . (Tokugawa Art Museum paper roll)

The protagonists are Genji, the late-born son of an aging Tennō , whom his father prefers but cannot place above his legal heir, and his concubine Murasaki. Genji is traditionally outsourced to the Minamoto (aka Genji) family , does not have to work and spends his time in the fine arts such as painting , poetry and calligraphy , and in military sports. His interest in the opposite sex also develops very early, and he can satisfy his cravings thanks to his high position. The result is many very different affairs with women. For example, he meets a girl, Murasaki, who fascinates him because she is the niece of and similar to a lady-in-waiting whom he previously admired.

After the abdication of the old Tennō, there are disputes with the new emperor and especially his mother, who had previously been neglected in favor of Genji's mother. Genji goes into exile voluntarily, but can return to court later. He also has a relationship far away from the court and fathered his first child, but cannot take his lover back to court with him.

Back in the capital and in his previous senior position, he continues his adventures with women. He takes Murasaki in and raises her like his own child, but even with her he cannot resist the temptation to make her his lover. He did not manage to remain loyal to a lady all his life and also accommodated several women in his house at the same time, who are often economically dependent on him.

The chapter Otome (Chapter 21) contains a description of how music was played at court for entertainment: At a meeting of the nobles, a friend of Genji's, the Naidaijin (Lord Seal Keeper , Minister), recites an improvised poem in which it says, he, the Naidaijin, have carefully tuned the wagon (arched board zither) to the right notes and accompanied his verses with it. He sang so delicately in meaningless syllables that he impressed all the women present.

After Murasaki's death, Genji seems to have lost his will to live. The chapter Maboroshi (chapter 41) revolves around his thoughts on transience. How and when he dies is not explained in the story; the next chapter Kumogakure has been written without content and probably on purpose by the author.

The protagonists of the last quarter of the book, the so-called " Uji Chapter", which take place after Genji's death, are his sons Niou and Kaoru, only one of whom is his biological child. However, their story ends very abruptly, with no conclusion.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu, after Tosa Mitsuoki (17th century)

For centuries, scholars have disagreed as to whether all 54 chapters of the Genji Monogatari really come from the same author. Some believe that the chapters from 33 onwards were written by Murasaki's daughter, others suspect a change of authors after Genji's death, i.e. from chapter 42 onwards. It is also unclear whether the version preserved today is complete, whether further chapters existed or whether the author never had a real one End of story planned. The only tangible clue is a precisely datable diary entry in the so-called Sarashina Nikki , in which the author expresses her joy at having received a complete copy of the Genji Monogatari.

It is noticeable that the main female character of the book has the same name as the author . However, it is not the author who named the protagonist after herself; it is the other way around: the true name of the author is unknown; all we know is that she was the Empress's lady-in-waiting. Therefore, she was baptized Murasaki by posterity.

language

Text from the earliest version (12th century), now in the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya .

Although the Classical Japanese of the Genji Monogatari differs far less from today's Japanese than the Middle High German from today's German, the book is almost illegible for today's Japanese. In addition to the complex grammar of old Japanese, permeated with politeness, this is also due to the fact that very many things are only hinted at, including personal names. In fact, almost none of the people in the book are named as it was considered impolite. Instead, people are identified by their rank (for men), family ties or clothing (for women), or previous utterances in the conversation, making it very difficult to keep track of them. Another complication is the idiomatic use of well-known poems or variations of them in conversation, which was often only reproduced in fragments. Those who do not know the quoted old poems (mostly in the tanka form) can often not understand what a speaker is trying to say.

There are two common solutions to these problems: on the one hand, original texts with detailed comments are published, on the other hand, there are also modernized versions in which, among other things, the names of the people are given. For example, Genji's first wife is known by convention as Aoi , from the title of the chapter in which she dies.

Paper rolls

The Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya houses the oldest version of the novel

The earliest surviving versions are paper rolls from the 12th century. The largest part is now kept in the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya, a smaller part in the Goto Art Museum in Tokyo. Since the rolls are extremely delicate, they are sealed and are not accessible to the public. The scrolls are national treasures of Japan .

Adaptations

In 1951, the story of Genji was filmed by Kozaburo Yoshimura , with Kazuo Hasegawa and Michiyo Kogure in the leading roles. In 1966 Kon Ichikawa made another modern film adaptation.

In fiction, the story of Liza Dalby is edited as "plum blossoms in the snow".

There is also a manga adaptation of the material with the title Asakiyumemishi , by Yamato Waki from 1980. This appeared in Germany in 1992 as Genji Monogatari , but was discontinued after three volumes. An indirect adaptation is the video game Genji , which was released for the Playstation 2 in 2005 . In 2009, an 11-part anime series called Genji Monogatari Sennenki: Genji ( 源氏物語 千 年紀 Genji ) was released. The manga Minamoto-kun Monogatari by Minori Inaba has been published since 2011 , based on the Genji Monogatari.

See also

expenditure

  • 源氏物語 (Genji monogatari). Edited by Yanai Shigeshi (柳 井 滋) et al. 5 volumes. Iwanami Shoten (岩 波 書店), Tōkyō 1993–1997. (新 日本 古典 文学大系 Shin-Nihon koten bungaku taikei; 19-23.) ISBN 4-00-240019-0 , ISBN 4-00-240020-4 , ISBN 4-00-240021-2 , ISBN 4-00-240022-0 , ISBN 4-00-240023-9 .
  • Murasaki Shikibu: The story of Prince Genji as it was written around the millennium AD by Murasaki, called Shikiby, lady-in-waiting to the Empress of Japan. After the English translation by Arthur Waley, German by Herberth E. Herlitschka . Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1954. (numerous new editions)
  • Murasaki Shikibu: The Story of Prince Genji. Old Japanese romance novel from the 11th century, written by the lady-in-waiting Murasaki. Full edition translated from the original by Oscar Benl . (= Corona series of the Manesse Library ). 2 volumes. Manesse, Zurich 1966.

literature

Web links

Commons : The Tale of Prince Genji  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eta Harich-Schneider : A History of Japanese Music. Oxford University Press, London 1973, p. 246