EA 170 Week 2b Outline I. Critical Analysis Questions A. Questions to think about any text/image/performance we study: 1. Who was it written/created by? (male? female? upper/lower class? etc. ) 2. Who was it written for? (Who was the intended audience? Was there a patron?) 3. How is the story or image supposed to affect that audience; i.e. what is the purpose/goal of the story? (Entertainment? Didactic? Both?) 4. What was the historical context? (economic, political, religious) Does anyone (person/group) benefit from this representation? 5. What are the genre constraints? (Is it a novel, a poem, a play, an image?) What are the structural elements that define the genre that might limit representation? (live performance, written word, image etc.) 6. What are the narrative constraints? What narrative elements are necessary to make the story work? (Is there a typical plot for this kind of story? Is the narrator first or third person? etc.) 7. Historical development of stories (If this story is adapted in later periods, how has it been changed? How do the above questions help us understand why those changes occur?) B. Example of The Tale of Genji 1. Who was it written by? Written by a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shôshi around 1000-1010 CE, known as Murasaki Shikibu. Like the author of Gossamer Years, the daughter of a provincial governor. 2. Who was the intended audience? Patron? Intended audience: Empress Shôshi's salon and imperial court Patron: Fujiwara no Michinaga (son of Kaneie and father of Empress Shôshi) 3. What was its purpose? Entertainment? Didactic? Both? 4. What is the historical context? Politics? Religion? Economics? 5. Are there any genre/narrative constraints?
Review of ranking: 1-3 daughters of high level ministers; 4-5 daughters of provincial governors, could become ladies-in-waiting at court; 6-9 servants Review of naming practices: women (and men) were generally not referred to by their real names, but went by sobriquets (special nicknames) or by their rank and position. We know the real names of historical men and empresses because they were listed in official genealogies, but most women's real names were not listed and so are lost to history (eg. the author of Kagero Diary, the author of Tale of Genji). A. Nicknames taken from places associated with the woman (see diagram of Inner Palace at back of book): 1. Kiritsubo (Genji's mother; minor-ranking consort of Emperor): named after the Pawlownia Court apartments (#4, furthest from Emperor) 2. Kokiden (Emperor's Chief Consort): named after the Hall of Great Light apartments (#3, closest to the Emperor) 3. Fujitsubo (Emperor's #2 Consort, enters court after Kiritsubo dies, Genji sleeps with her and his illicit son becomes the Reizei Emperor): named after the Wisteria Court apartments (#2 apartments: closer than Kiritsubo, but further than Kokiden) 4. Rokujô Haven (Genji's mistress; the widow of a former crown prince who was the older brother of Genji's father): Rokujô (Sixth Avenue) refers to the location of her mansion. Haven = Miyasudokoro, a title indicating she has borne a child to an emperor or crown prince. B. Nicknames associated with images, often flowers, from important poems (note that in the Japanese text of Tale of Genji these names generally do not appear, they were devised by later readers who created guides to the book and are used by translators into English and modern Japanese) 1. Yûgao (Tô no Chûjô discusses her in The Broom Tree chapter 2; Genji finds her accidentally when visiting his wet nurse and begins an affair; she dies of possession illness) Yûgao = literally, "evening faces," here translated as "twilight beauty";a gourd vine with large white flowers Chap. 4, "The Twilight Beauty" pp. 54-58: the house in which she lives is covered with yûgao flowers and the flowers are referred to in an exchange of poems (although the reference is initially to Genji as an "evening face" who is not clearly seen but is still recognized) 2. Aoi or Aoi no Ue (Genji's #1 wife, dies in childbirth) Aoi = "heartvine” a vine with heart-shaped leaves; "no Ue" = "first wife" Named after the Aoi festival celebrating the founding of the Kamo shrine; the carriage fight between Aoi and Rokujô's men occurs during a parade leading up to a ceremony at the shrine. 3. Murasaki (niece of Fujitsubo -- note that wisteria is also purple -- Genji "adopts" her when she is quite young and raises her to be his wife) Murasaki = reddish-purple color made from the roots of the murasaki (gromwell) plant, associated in poetry with passionate love and faithful spouses; see introductory note, p. 87 p. 113 How glad I would be to pick and soon to make mine that little wild plant/sprung up from the very root shared by the murasaki The meaning of the poem is that Genji longs to "pick" the child, who is a relative of the other "purple" lady that Genji loves, Fujitsubo (Wisteria Court). But from this poem, the character gets her the name "Murasaki." CAUTION!!!!!: Do NOT confuse the author of Tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu) with the character Murasaki. The author got her pen name from the character but they are not the same! III. Political Situation at the beginning of the book A. Genealogy, also click here
Min. of Right
Minister
of the Left
B. Chapter 1: Basic Politics 1. Why does the Emperor make Genji a commoner?
2. Why does the Emperor marry Genji off at 12? a. What does the Minister of the Left have to gain? How does he cover his bets? 3. What are Genji's living arrangements with the daughter of the Minister of the Left (Aoi no Ue)? 4. Why do they have trouble in their marriage? a. Why is this politically dangerous for Genji? Does he care?
IV. Women, Political Power, and Jealousy A. No direct power, but economic power = influence. Also, for Ladie- in-waiting, proximity to power. 1. Cannot hold political office (except Empress and wet-nurse)
B. Who is Kokiden? 1. Political role
2. Why is Kokiden so antagonistic towards Kiritsubo? a. b.
3. What does Kokiden do to hurt Kiritsubo? a. Why doesn't the Emperor interfere? 4. Why does Kiritsubo die? a. Response to harrassment 1) recurring pattern in the book b. Narrative necessity
V. The Ideal Woman: Chapter 2 The Broom Tree “Rainy Night Discussion” (pp. 19-40) and Murasaki Shikibu's Diary excerpts A. "Rainy Night Discussion" location 1. People involved: Genji and his best friend, Tô no Chûjô (Aoi's brother); also the Chief Left Equerry and the Fujiwara Aide of Ceremonial (the latter two are not important as characters, and don't show up again) B. Basic rhetorical strategy: 1. How this scene relates to book as a whole a. Types: Yûgao, Akashi Lady, Murasaki IV. Class Discussion: 1. What qualities are considered "feminine"? a. What qualities are seen as good and bad in women? What qualities are important in a "good" wife? b. Are any of these qualities still seen as normative (valued positively) today? 2. How does social status seem to affect the judgments? 3. How is a woman supposed to show her feelings? 4. What is considered an appropriate level of education for a woman? 5. How does the woman in The Kagero Diary measure up to these standards?
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