Appraising Genji : literary criticism and cultural anxiety in the age of the last samurai / Patrick W. Caddeau.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Caddeau, Patrick W., 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Murasaki Shikibu, 978?- Genji monogatari.

Murasaki Shikibu.

Physical Description:

xv, 212 pages : facsimiles ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2006]

Summary:

Considered by many to be the world's first novel, The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is a masterpiece of narrative fiction rich in plot, character development, and compositional detail. The tale, written by a woman in service to Japan's imperial court in the early eleventh century, portrays a world of extraordinary romance, lyric beauty, and human vulnerability. Appraising Genji is the first work to bring the rich field of Genji reception to the attention of an English-language audience. Patrick W. Caddeau traces the tale's place in Japanese culture through diaries, critical treatises, newspaper accounts, cinematic adaptation, and modern stage productions.

The centerpiece of this study is a treatise on Genji by Hagiwara Hiromichi (1815-1863), one of the most astute readers of the tale who, after becoming a masterless samurai, embarked on a massive study of Genji. Hiromichi challenged dominant modes of literary interpretation and cherished beliefs about the supremacy of the nation's aristocratic culture. In so doing, he inspired literary critics and authors as they struggled to articulate theories of fiction and the novel in early modern Japan. Appraising Genji promises to enhance our understanding of one of the greatest literary classics in terms of intellectual history, literary criticism, and the quest of scholars in early modern Japan to define their nation's place in the world.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Heian Fantasies: Nationalism and Nostalgia in the Reading of Genji 9

The Edo Period and the Rise of Nativism 21

Chapter 2 Hagiwara Hiromichi: Masterless Samurai and Iconoclastic Scholar 27

Profound Loss in an Age of Enlightenment 30

From Poetry to Poetics 35

Osaka: Encounters with Heterodox Learning 38

Takizawa Bakin and the Edo "Novel" 44

Marketing a New Way to Read Genji 46

Chapter 3 From Moral Contention to Literary Persuasion 49

The Design of the Monogatari and Norinaga's Mono no Aware Theory 51

The Main Point of the Monogatari 57

Commentaries on Genji 66

Transcending the Limitations of Traditional Structure and Format 73

Guiding the Reader 74

Chapter 4 Exposing the Secrets of the Author's Brush 81

Historical Sources for the "Principles of Composition" 82

"Principles of Composition" and Literary Style 90

Chapter 5 Ambiguity and the Responsive Reader 99

"Principles of Composition" and the Structure of Genji as a Whole 101

Gaps in the Narrative and Hiromichi's Theory of Ambiguity 104

Techniques and Terminology 110

"Principles of Composition" Unique to the Hyoshaku in Genji Commentary 111

"Major and Minor" or "Principal and Auxiliary" Characters 111

"Lead and Secondary" Characters 113

"Corresponding" or "Contrasting" Characters 113

"Opposing" Characters or "Character Foils" 114

"Retroactive Parallel" and "Retroactive Correspondence" 114

"Narrative Interlude" 116

"Foreshadowing" 117

"Comparative Description" 118

"Control of Narrative Pace" 119

"Reversal" 120

"Ellipsis" 120

"Lingering Presence" or "Resonance" 121

"Narrative Seed" 121

"Retribution" 123

"Allegory" 123

"Context" 124

Terms from Previous Genji Commentaries 124

"Close Correspondence" 125

"Textual Parallelism or Intertextuality" 125

"Planning" or "Discretion" 125

"Authorial Intrusion" 126

"Aesthetic After-effect" and "Aesthetic Satisfaction" 127

Chapter 6 Translating Genji into the Modern Idiom 131

Tree Spirits and Apparitions 131

The Disappearance of Ukifune 136

The Problem of Edo 143

Cultural Anxiety and the First Translation of Genji into English 147

Genji and the Essence of the Modern Novel 154

Appendix I Character Glossary of Premodern Names, Titles, and Terms in Chinese and Japanese 185

Appendix II List of Major Commentaries on Genji 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-206) and index.

ISBN:

0791466736

OCLC:

60375522

Publisher Number:

9780791466735