Mythical Tale - World Literature Library (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Murasaki Shikibu (Japan)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The Tale of Genji is a long narrative prose work from the mid-Heian period of Japan, representing the most iconic classical novel in Japanese literature and also one of the world's earliest long novels. It centers on court life, depicting the social realities of the early and mid-Heian period. Many controversies surround the authorship of The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu, the time of its composition, its structure, and the motivations behind its creation. The exact time of The Tale of Genji's completion remains uncertain, with most scholars placing it in the first half of 1010 during the Kankō era. The currently circulated version of The Tale of Genji consists of fifty-four chapters (or monogatari), but records such as The Tale of Genji: The First Minister's Copy, The Mirror of the Present, and The Anonymous Grass mention sixty chapters, though their contents are unknown. Scholars like Fujiwara no Teika, Minamoto no Norikuni, and his son Minamoto no Norikuni, among others, as fifty-four chapters. The titles of the chapters also vary. Since the forty-first chapter, Cloud Hidden, only has a title and no content, some editions omit it, while splitting the forty-second chapter, New Vegetables, into two parts. Most Japanese scholars divide The Tale of Genji into three parts: the first from the beginning to the thirty-third chapter, Tendril of Wisteria, the second from the thirty-fourth chapter, New Vegetables, to the forty-first chapter, Cloud Hidden, and the third from the forty-second chapter, Prince Genji of the Fragrant Ministry, to the end. The first two parts center on Hikaru Genji, while the third part focuses on Kaoru, Genji of the Fragrant Ministry, and Utsuro. The setting shifts to Uji in the third part. The novel spans four generations of emperors and over seventy years. The Tale of Genji holds a prominent position in both Japanese literary history and world literature, receiving high praise from all researchers and establishing an unshakable reputation. In 1964, UNESCO selected Murasaki Shikibu as one of the "Five Great People of the World."