Izumi Shikibu

Izumi Shikibu ( Japanese 和 泉 式 部 ; * around 970 in Kyoto; † 11th century in Japan) was a Japanese poet of the Heian period . She is one of the 36 immortal poets of the Middle Ages ( 中古 三 十六 歌仙 , chūko sanjurokkasen ). The contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu and Akazome Emon at the court of Joto Mon'in was perhaps the greatest poet of her time.

Life

Izumi Shikibu was the daughter of Oe no Masamune , the governor of Echizen Province . Her mother was the daughter of Taira no Yasuhira , the governor of Etchu . At the age of 20, Izumi Shikibu was married to Tachibana no Michisada , who shortly after became governor of Izumi .

As was customary for women in the Heian period, her name is composed of Izumi , the government ( 任 国 , ningoku ) of her husband and master of ceremonies ( 式 部 , shikibu ), the official title of her father. Her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi was also a gifted poet. Izumi Shikibu accompanied Michisada to the provinces for a while, but found life there uncomfortable and returned to the capital.

She had a number of affairs at court. It is believed that before marrying Michisada, she was the consort (some reports say wife) of a man named Omotomaru at the court of the queen widow Shoko. During her marriage to Michisada, she fell passionately in love with Prince Tametaka (977-1002), the third-born son of Emperor Reizei, and had a public affair with him. In doing so, they sparked a scandal, as a result of which her husband divorced Izumi Shikibu and her father disinherited her. According to the prevailing myth, it was Tametaka's visit to Shikibu during a plague epidemic that ultimately led to his death.

After Tametaka's death, Prince Atsumichi (981-1007), a half-brother of Tametaka, courted her. She describes the first year of this affair in the semi-autobiographical novel Izumi Shikibu Nikki ( 和 泉 式 部 日記 , Eng. "Diary of Izumi Shikibu"). Like many diaries of this time, it is in the third person, and parts of it are certainly fiction. It is believed that Shikibu's motive for writing this diary was at least in part to explain the affair to the other courtiers. As before with Tametaka, this affair was soon no longer a secret and Atsumichi's wife left his house in anger. Shikibu then moved into Atsumichi's residence, and the two maintained a public relationship until Atsumichi died in 1007 at the age of 27.

The following year Izumi Shikibu went to the court of Fujiwara no Shōshi , the daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga and wife of Tennō Ichijō . In fact, the creation of the diary of the Izumi Shikibu as well as their most important works, which are contained in the Izumi Shikibu Shū ( 和 泉 d 部 d, German "Izumi Shikibu Collection") and the Imperial Anthologies, fall during this time. Her life, characterized by love and passion, earned her the nickname Lebedame ( 浮 か れ 女 , ukareme ) from Michinaga . Indeed, her poetry is characterized by overflowing passion and overwhelming emotional impact. Their style is the exact opposite of Akazome Emon's style , although both served in the same court and were close friends. At court she cultivated a growing rivalry with Murasaki Shikibu , whose poetry is of a similar style, although this rivalry pales in comparison to Murasaki Shikibu's spiritual competition with Sei Shonagon . Izumi Shikibu's soulful poetry earned her the praise of many courtiers, including Fujiwara no Kinto .

At court she married Fujiwara no Yasumasa, a military commander under Michinaga who was famous for his courage, and left the court to accompany him to his command in Tango Province . Apparently she lived a long time, longer than her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi, but the year of death is unknown. Her last correspondence with the imperial court dates from 1033.

The work of Izumi Shikibus also found attention in contemporary art, so the Opéra National de Paris and the Grand Théâtre de Genève in Geneva jointly commissioned the opera “Da Gelo a Gelo” based on their poems from Salvatore Sciarrino. Sung in Italian, it is based on 65 poems from Izumi Shikibu's diary , which thematize her passionate love for Prince Atsumichi. The work was performed in early 2008 by the Grand Théâtre de Genève with the Geneva Chamber Orchestra.

Examples of their poetry

Shikibu's love poems are full of surprising imagery:

「刈 藻 か き 臥 猪 の 床 の ゐ を 安 み さ こ そ ね ざ ら ら 斯 ら ら ず も が な」

“Trampling down the dry grass, the wild boar makes his bed and sleeps. I wouldn't sleep so deeply even if I didn't have these feelings. "

- Goshūi Wakashū 14: 821

「黒 髪 の み だ れ も 知 ら ず 打 臥 せ ば ま づ か き や や し 人 人 ぞ 戀 し き」

“My black hair is uncombed; carefree he lies down and first smooths it gently, my beloved! "

- Goshūi Wakashū 13: 755

A large number of Shikibu's poems are lamentations ( 哀傷 哥 , aishō no uta ). Here are a few examples. Addressing Tametaka, she writes:

「亡 人 の く る 夜 と き け ど 君 も な し 我 が 住 む 宿 宿 魂 魂 無 き の 里」

“They say the dead will return tonight, but you are not here. Is my property really a house without a ghost? "

- Goshūi Wakashū 10: 575

When she saw the name of her daughter Koshikibu no Naishi on the imperial robes she received after her death, she wrote:

「諸 共 に 苔 の し た に は 朽 ち ず し て 埋 も れ ぬ 名 名 み る る ぞ 悲 し き」

"Under the moss, immortal, your name respected: to see this brings great sadness."

- Kin'yō Wakashū 10: 620

literature

• Edwin Cranston: Izumi Shikibu . In: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan . Kodansha .
• Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri, Robert E. Morrell: The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature . Princeton University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-691-06599-3 , pp. 170-171 .
• Shuichi Kato: A History of Japanese Literature . Japan Library, 1995, ISBN 1-873410-48-4 .
• Chieko Mulhern (Ed.): Japanese Women Writers. A Bio-critical Sourcebook . Greenwood Press, 1994.
• Janet Walker: Poetic Ideal and Fictional Reality in the Izumi Shikibu nikki . In: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies . Vol. 37, June 1977, pp. 135-182 , doi : 10.2307 / 2718668 .
• The Izumi Shikibu Diary . Harvard University Press, 1969.

Web links

• Izumi Shikibu Nikki. In: Japanese Text Initiative. University of Virginia Library, December 27, 2000, accessed August 14, 2010 (Japanese). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Judit Árokay: Izumi Shikibu. In: Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Hrsg.): Kindlers Literatur Lexikon. <Vol. 3 No. 8 Igi-Ker>, JBMetzler, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-476-04000-8 , p. 187