Sei shonagon
A contemporary court lady, Sei shonagon's "the pillow book" was a compilation of miscellaneous notes and reflections that provides an excellent portrait of Heian aristocratic life, with its emphasis on elegance-always an important element of the Japanese aesthetic. "The Pillow Book" provides invaluable insight into contemporary court ceremony, intrigues, and politics. In addition to its historic interest, it is a literary masterpiece, displaying a sharp wit, deft expression, and spontaneity.Murasaki Shikibu was Japanese novelist, court figure at the height of the Heian period (795-1185). Known also as Lady Murasaki, she is celebrated as the author of the romantic novel Genji-Monogatari [tale of Genji], one of the first great works of fiction to be written in Japanese. It concerns the life of Prince Genji and his descend
The Japanese have drawn upon the sensibilities of the characters and the author of the Tale of Genji for nearly a millennium in defining and extolling the national character. More than a few modern writers--from the poet Yosano Akiko to novelists Tanizaki Junichirô and Enchi Fumiko--have spent years in the labor of love of translating the lengthy novel from its difficult classical language into modern Japanese. High school students memorize passages for their college entrance exams, and with the words absorb her views and aesthetic pronouncements. It was not until the later feudal period that women's status declined to the position of docile subservience familiar to us from samurai movies and modern stereotypes. Selections from the Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu and the Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon combine to give a balanced picture of life among the aristocracy in Japan at the height of the Heian period. On the other hand, Sei Shônagon's prose style is still studied as a model of classical literary style. The very fact that these two works, acknowledged as the greatest prose writing of a very rich period, were written by women is an important indication of the varieties of social organization in Japanese history. They are an important corrective to the warrior-dominated image we often have of premodern Japan, reflecting instead an earlier age when gentler arts were the most highly valued. As is clear from these prose selections, the short poem (or waka, called tanka in modern times) was an important medium of both communication and expression in Heian times and thereafter into the twentieth century. While it is no longer in the mainstream of high literature, it remains a popular amateur form and is held in high esteem by the Japanese as a unique cultural achievement. The miscellany, or collection of random thoughts; observations, and emotions, has since her day become a widely used genre in Japanese literature. ants and is a subtle and thorough delineation of a complex society. Sei Shônagon's sharp and witty descriptions of court life offer an astringent account of the manners of the age, while Murasaki's fiction expands on its ideals and attitudes with striking psychological insight. Later literature, from medieval Noh drama to modern novels, has reworked and reexamined themes and events until the novel has become as much a part of Japanese thinking as Shakespeare's plays are in our own tradition. At the height of the classical era, women had considerable freedom socially, economically, and artistically, and their creative accomplishments, especially in literature, set the standards for the age.
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Acceptance Essays
