The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 Genji Monogatari?) is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian Period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern novel, the first romance novel, or the first novel to still be considered a classic. This issue is a matter of debate. See Stature below. The first partial translation of Genji Monogatari into English was by Suematsu Kencho. A free translation of all but one chapter was produced by Arthur Waley. Edward Seidensticker made the first complete translation into English, using a more literal method than Waley. The most recent English translation, by Royall Tyler (2001), also tries to be faithful to the original text. Diet member Marutei Tsurunen has also made a translation in Finnish. Introduction The Genji, as the work is commonly called by aficionados, was written for the women of the aristocracy (the yokibito) and has many elements found in a modern novel: a central character and a very large number of major and minor characters, well-developed characterization of all the major players, a sequence of events happening over a period of time covering the central character's lifetime and beyond. The work does not make use of a plot; instead, much as in real life, events just happen and characters evolve simply by growing older. One remarkable feature of the Genji, and of Murasaki's skill, is its internal consistency, despite a dramatis personae of some four hundred characters. For instance, all characters age in step and all the family and feudal relationships are consistent among all chapters. One complication for readers and translators of the Genji is that almost none of the characters in the original text is given an explicit name. The characters are instead referred to by their function or role (e.g. Minister of the Left), an honorific (e.g. His Excellency), or their relation to other characters (e.g. Heir Apparent), which may all change as the novel progresses. This lack of names stems from Heian-era court manners that would have made it unacceptably familiar and blunt to freely mention a character's name. Modern readers and translators have, to a greater or lesser extent, used various nicknames to keep track of the many characters. See Characters for a listing. Stature The Genji is an important fictional work of Japanese literature, and numerous modern authors have cited it as inspiration. It is noted for its internal consistency, psychological depiction, and characterization. The novelist Yasunari Kawabata said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: The Tale of Genji in particular is the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature. Even down to our day there has not been a piece of fiction to compare with it. The Genji is also often referred to as the first novel, though there is considerable debate over this - some of the debate involving whether Genji can even be considered a novel. Some consider the psychological insight, complexity, and unity of the work to qualify it for novel; status while simultaneously disqualifying earlier works. Others see these arguments as subjective and unconvincing. Related claims, perhaps in an attempt to sidestep these debates, are that Genji is the first psychological novel, the first novel still considered to be a classic, or other more qualified terms. It is, however, difficult to claim that it is the world's first novel without denying the claims of Daphnis and Chloe and Aethiopica in Greek, which author Longus and Heliodorus of Emesa respectively wrote, both around the third century, and in Latin, Petronius's Satyricon in the first century and Apuleius's Golden Ass in the second, as well as Kādambari in Sanskrit which author Bānabhatta wrote in the seventh century. (The debate exists in Japanese as well, with comparison between the terms monogatari -tale- and shosetsu -novel). The novel and other works by Lady Murasaki are standard staple in the curricula of Japanese schools. The Bank of Japan issued the 2000 Yen banknote in her honour, featuring a scene from the novel based on the 12th century illustrated handscroll. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Genji Ebook: http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Genji/00000010.htm Full text version: http://webworld.unesco.org/genji/en/ The world of Genji: http://www.taleofgenji.org/ Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部; c. 973--c. 1014 or 1025) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murasaki_Shikibu Images: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/asian377/studentspring99/asian377e/genji/ http://www.tokugawa-art-museum.jp/english/index.html Music: "Overture", Isao Tomita http://www.amazon.com/Genji-Monogatari-Symphony-Isao-Tomita/dp/B00005HP04 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isao_Tomita Official website: http://www.isaotomita.com/top.html

• published: 30 Jun 2008
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