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Sei Shōnagon's Makura No Sōshi In KNOWING WOMEN: SEI SHŌNAGON’S MAKURA NO SŌSHI IN EARLY-MODERN JAPAN by GERGANA ENTCHEVA IVANOVA A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July, 2012 © Gergana Entcheva Ivanova, 2012 Abstract This dissertation explores the reception history of Makura no sōshi (The Pillow Book, 11th c.) from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries. Focusing on an extensive body of texts, including scholarly commentaries, erotic parodies, and instruction manuals for women, I examine how Makura no sōshi and the image of its female author Sei Shōnagon were transformed through shifts in political contexts, readerships, and socio-cultural conditions. The complex reception history of The Pillow Book, in which the text was recreated through diverse forms, serves as a useful case study of how literary criticism, gender structures, and the status of women have changed through time. Drawing from research on the invention of national literatures and the historical reception of Japanese “classical” works, this study reveals the processes and agents that contributed to the shifting place of Makura no sōshi within Japanese literature. By so doing, it sheds light on the extent to which misrepresentations of Heian texts and their authors have influenced approaches in literary scholarship and shaped contemporary images of the Heian period as a whole. The Introduction analyzes the context in which Makura no sōshi was produced and considers theoretical approaches to the reception of literary works, particularly the processes of evaluation, interpretation, adaptation, and canonization. Chapter One traces scholarly debates regarding the textual identity and the genre of the work as recorded in scholarly commentaries and works of literary criticism. Chapter Two takes up the popularization of the Heian text among male readers and considers its transformation into a highly eroticized work. An examination of illustrated adaptations of Makura no sōshi for a female readership follows in Chapter Three, which shows how the work was used as a manual for social mobility gained through marriage. Chapter Four turns to constructions of Sei Shōnagon in instruction manuals for women and examines the use of the image of the author as an efficient tool for gender training both in Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) Japan. The Conclusion summarizes aspects of Makura no sōshi that defy categorization and make it a dynamic text. ii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents .............................................................................................. iii List of Figures ..................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements…………………………………………...……………....vii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE: (Re-)Constructing the Text: Early-Modern Scholarship on Makura no sōshi ........................................................................... 23 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 23 1.2 The Pillow Book before the Edo Period ....................................... 31 1.3 Shaping the Text ............................................................................ 39 1.4 Sectioning Makura no sōshi ......................................................... 46 1.4.1 Bansai ................................................................................. 46 1.4.2 Kigin .................................................................................. 57 1.4.3 Ichū .................................................................................... 60 1.4.4 The Three Commentaries .................................................. 62 1.5 Shaping the Meaning .................................................................... 63 1.5.1 Early-Edo Interpretations ................................................... 63 1.5.2 Late-Edo Interpretations .................................................... 66 1.6 Conclusion .................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER TWO: Eroticizing The Pillow Book: Knowledge, Status, and Identity……………………………………………………………………..….76 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 76 2.2 Homo- and Hetero-eroticism in Inu Makura................................83 iii 2.3 The Pillow Book and the Pleasure Quarters ................................. 90 2.4 Eroticism and Manners in Action .............................................. 103 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................... 112 CHAPTER THREE: Rewriting Sei Shōnagon’s Pillow Book for a Female Readership ....................................................................................................... 114 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 114 3.2 An Ilustrated Digest of The Pillow Book .................................... 119 3.3 An Erotic Rendition of Makura no sōshi .................................... 128 3.4 Sexual Allure beyond Erotic Books ........................................... 147 3.5 Conclusion .................................................................................. 164 CHAPTER FOUR: Constructing Sei Shōnagon for Tokugawa Women ....... 166 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 166 4.2 The Trope of the Heian Woman Writer ..................................... 167 4.3 Recreating Sei Shōnagon for Tokugawa Women ...................... 175 4.4 Further Sexualizing Sei Shōnagon ............................................. 196 4.5 Sei Shōnagon in Meiji Japan ....................................................... 200 4.6 Conclusion .................................................................................. 212 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 214 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 218 Appendix: Selected Works related to the Reception History of Makura no sōshi……….……..….……………….....……………………….228 iv List of Illustrations Figure 1.1 Katō Bansai’s Sei Shōnagon Makura no sōshishō.1674. ...............................48 Figure 1.2 Kitamura Kigin’s Shunshoshō.1671. ..............................................................58 Figure 1.3 Okanishi Ichū’s Makura no sōshi bōchū.1681. ...............................................61 Figure 3.1 Asahiyama, Book One (Detail: “Things that should be small”). 1741. ..............................................................................................................123 Figure 3.2 Asahiyama, Book One (Detail: “Distractions at boring times”). 1741. ..............................................................................................................124 Figure 3.3 Catalogue of upcoming books included in the Asahiyama. 1741 .................124 Figure 3.4 Asahiyama, Book One (Detail: “Common things that suddenly sound special”). 1741 ..............................................................................................132 Figure 3.5 Haru no akebono, Book One (Detail: “Common things that suddenly sound special”). 1771. .............................................................................................135 Figure 3.6 Haru no akebono, Book Two (Detail: “Pleasing things”). 1771. .................136 Figure 3.7 Haru no akebono, Book Three (Detail: “Splendid things”). 1771 ................138 Figure 3.8 Haru no akebono, Book Three (Detail: A modern-day Sei Shōnagon sitting at her desk). 1771 .........................................................................................144 Figure 3.9 “Sei Shōnagon no kisai; dō Makura no sōshi no kigo” (Detail: Sei Shōnagon surrounded by male courtiers). 1818.… ........................................................152 Figure 3.10 Asahiyama, Book One (Detail: “Things that move the heart”). 1741.. .............................................................................................................157 Figure 3.11 “Sei Shōnagon no kisai” (Detail: “Things that move the heart”). 1818…… .......................................................................................................................157 Figure 3.12 Asahiyama, Book Two (“Surprising and distressing things”). 1741……... 159 Figure 3.13 “Sei Shōnagon no kisai” (Detail: “Surprising and distressing things”). 1818………………………………………………………………………...159 Figure 3.14 Asahiyama, Book Two (Detail: “Pleasing things”). 1741. ...........................161 Figure 3.15 “Sei Shōnagon no kisai” (Detail: “Pleasing things”). ...................................161 Figure 3.16 Saga-bon Ise monogatari (Detail: Episode 23).1608 ....................................163 v Figure 3.17 Asahiyama, Book Two (Detail: “Graceful things”). 1741 ............................163 Figure 3.18 “Sei Shōnagon no kisai” (Detail: “Graceful things”). 1818 ..........................164 Figure 4.1 Onna kanninki yamatobumi (Detail: Sei Shōnagon raising the blind). 1713 ...............................................................................................................185
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