Japanese 2451:
JAPANESE LITERATURE IN
TRANSLATION
INSTRUCTOR: DR. NAOMI FUKUMORI
(Fukumori-
sensei
)
February 6, 2018
Announcement
Our first quiz will be Tuesday, Feb.
13.
Coverage: Session 1 through the
contents of the lecture on Thursday,
Feb. 8 (Session 10).
Format: All mulHple choice.
2
3
Y
ū
gao: “Evening Faces”
Just at a hazard,
Might it perchance be his--
The face in the twilight,
A
y
ū
gao
enhanced
By the radiance of the dew?
4
Cast of Characters
• Genji:
17-years-old, same year as the
“Broom Tree” discussion
• Rokuj
ō
Lady: Wife of the Former Crown
Prince (the brother of Genji’s father),
“dignified, correct woman,” 27-years-old
• Nurse:
Genji’s wetnurse; has become ill
and has taken Buddhist vows
•
Koremitsu: Genji’s foster brother
• Y
ū
gao: Lady of the Evening Faces
• Ukon:
Y
ū
gao’s lady-in-waiting
5
Koremitsu on Genji’s Amorous
Pursuits
“A good reputation is important for someone in his
position . . .
But actually, when you think about it--
his youth, the deference and praise he receives--
he’d
seem tasteless and dreary if he weren’t a bit of a
gallant.
After all, the right woman will captivate any
man, even one of those lesser mortals to whom
society denies the privilege of infidelity.”
(p. 63)
6
“Peeping Through the Fence”
•
In Japanese: “kaimami”
•
A literary motif that signifies the
beginning of a romance.
•
A voyeuristic fascination/obsession with
a woman.
7
The Tale of Genji
Picture
Scroll (ca. 1141-1155)
8
Hidden Flowers
“The house fell into the category
dismissed by Uma-no-kami as the
lowest of the low, but the lady seemed
out of the ordinary.
What if he were to
discover an undreamt-of-gem in those
surroundings?” (p. 63)
9
Affirmation of Y
ū
gao’s Character
Genji: “It’s precisely lack of strength that makes
a woman appealing.
Clever, unsubmissive
women don’t attract men.
I myself am not a
brisk, forceful type, and I like someone who is
gentle, susceptible perhaps to masculine
deception when off guard, but nevertheless
basically prudent and discreet, and
submissive to her husband’s wishes.
If a
man finds such a woman, corrects her flaws
to suit his taste, and makes her his wife, she’ll
become very dear to him.”
(p. 82)
10
The Y
ū
gao Lady’s Identity
• T
ō
no Ch
ū
j
ō
’s “unreliable type” woman
from the “Broom Tree” discussion (pp.
53-55)
•
Child-like charm, timid, “the daughter of
a fisherman” (i.e., without a home,
lacking stability)
11
The Rokuj
ō
Lady
“The Rokuj
ō
lady was also much to be pitied,
for there had been a perceptible diminution in
his ardor since he had overcome her stubborn
resistance.
Others wondered why his present
feelings lacked the passion that had driven
him before she was his.
Morbidly sensitive
by nature, she had feared all along that the
disparity between their ages would cause
