Ebook Download the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 1St Edition Pdf Free

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Ebook Download the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 1St Edition Pdf Free THE PILLOW BOOK OF SEI SHONAGON 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Sei Shonagon | 9780231073370 | | | | | The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 1st edition PDF Book More information about this seller Contact this seller 8. One scholar suggests that she probably died at Tsukinowa, a suburb of what is now Kyoto, where her father owned a residence. In , Arthur Waley, a seminal figure in the Western studies of Japanese culture, undertook a translation. Gibney, Michele. Penney, Matthew. Condition: Used: Acceptable. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. A social requirement was that the male send a poem on beautiful paper with a decorative flower or branch to the lady, and that she reply. During the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, Japanese men typically wrote in Chinese, using characters, while Japanese women wrote exclusively in their native tongue, using hiragana, a syllabary derived from Chinese characters Penney and Matthew. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. Customer service is our top priority!. Theme Wheel. Themes All Themes. Create a Want BookSleuth Can't remember the title or the author of a book? No dust jacket. More information about this seller Contact this seller 3. Paperback or Softback. Seller Rating:. Please allow days from USA. Dust Jacket Condition: Slipcase. Waley's interpretation offers a fascinating glimpse of the artistic pursuits of the royal court and its constant round of rituals, festivals, and ceremonies. While it is mostly a personal work, Shonagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Seller Inventory Both the author's sophisticated sense and her eye for particular things are fused; for if one compares the sentimentality of mono no aware the Pathos of Things as found in " The Tale of Genji ", similar beauty of the world is revealed through the use of the intellectual word okashi lovely in this piece. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. Retrieved 22 January Retrieved 16 November Sometimes such games had a romantic gloss, like when the famous poet Sanekata sends a flirtatious poem to a young gentlewoman, who is too shy to fulfill social expectation by responding with her own. Published by Houghton Mifflin, Boston LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Translated with an Introduction by Ivan Morris. Sei Shonagon has been described as arrogant and confrontational by many readers, according to Penney and Matthew. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. The Pillow Book. Search Within These Results:. These books were kept private, probably in small drawers built into wooden pillows, hence the label. Three types of classification were proposed by Kikan Ikeda. The book introduces a witty writer who takes pleasure in words and in the language and imagery of poetry, a flamboyant woman who revels in celebrations and festivals and in court pageantry and protocol. Thanks for the advice, anyway. No dust jacket. It was the custom among aristocrats in those days to call a court lady by a nickname taken from a court office belonging to her father or husband. About this Item: Columbia University Press, More information about this seller Contact this seller 5. Toraya Confectionary Company in Japanese. Heian Period. More information about this seller Contact this seller 1. Add to Basket Used Condition: Fair. Create a Want BookSleuth Forgotten the title or the author of a book? The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 1st edition Writer This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Condition: Fair. United Kingdom. The Pillow Book. Later, she offers detailed information on letter writing, offering prescriptions for paper, calligraphy, accompanying gift and bearer, and appreciation for the value of letters as gifts of love. Published by Grove Press E, Be the first one to write a review. Write a comment Cloth a little rubbed and marked, backstrip faded, pages tanned - sound copy. The book introduces a witty writer who takes pleasure in words and in the language and imagery of poetry, a flamboyant woman who revels in celebrations and festivals and in court pageantry and protocol. Item added to your basket View basket. The family were middle-ranking courtiers and had financial difficulties, possibly because they were not granted a revenue-producing office. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Ship same day - everyday - seven days a week. Later editors introduced section numbers and divisions; the Sankanbon text is divided into sections, with an additional 29 "supplemental" sections which may represent later additions by the author or copyists. Add to Basket Used Softcover. From: glenthebookseller Montgomery, IL, U. Condition: Very Good. Create a Want BookSleuth Can't remember the title or the author of a book? In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry, and some opinions on her contemporaries. Plot Summary. Hiroaki Sato questions whether Lady Sei and Norimitsu were actually married or just close friends, "the ladies and gentlemen of the court teased them by calling him her big brother and her his little sister. Hiragana allowed women to convey their thoughts and feelings regarding their lives in and about Japan in a language all their own. Condition: New. Little is known about her life except what can be found in her writing. More information about this seller Contact this seller 7. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. If you chose Ivan Morris's which means probably the paperback edition, which is abridged , well, you can still get the Penguin version and go around again. I see you posted this almost a year ago and assume that you made your choice. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Book is clean and unmarked, straight and square. Possible clean ex-library copy, with their stickers and or stamp s. About this Item: Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Shipping Weight: 9. The binding leans ever so slightly, but remains perfectly secure; the text is clean. Reese, Lyn. Book may have signs of shelve wear. Sei also relates anecdotes of exchanges with friends, most often male courtiers like Yukinari or Tadanobu , which often feature joking exchanges of poetry. Though they describe her as freely expressing her feelings with sharp wit. The Pillow Book. More information about this seller Contact this seller 3. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. Continue shopping. Brouhaha inc is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. Condition: New. More generally, a pillow book is a collection of notebooks or notes which have been collated to show a period of someone or something's life. The distinguished scholar devised this abridged version of the text, re-creating in English the stylistic beauty of its prose and the vitality of its narrative. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon 1st edition Reviews Condition: Nearly fine copy. About this Item: Condition: New. Special order direct from the distributor. It is composed primarily in Japanese hiragana, which is a syllabary that is actually derived from Chinese characters, and generally many of her short stories were written in a witty literary style. Another tradition has her marrying Fujiwara no Muneyo, the governor of Settsu province, after her court service ended, and having a daughter, Koma no Myobu. Proceed to Basket. Condition: New. We will not remove any content for bad language alone, or being critical of a particular book. About this Item: Folio Society, London, Very minimal writing or notations in margins not affecting the text. The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shonagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the s and early 11th century in Heian Japan. Brouhaha inc is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. Previous Intro. Former Library book. Her father was a provincial official, but is best known as a poet and a scholar. Four main variants of the text are known to modern scholars. BC - Acceptable condition. Though they describe her as freely expressing her feelings with sharp wit. Translated with an Introduction by Ivan Morris. Good dust jacket. More information about this seller Contact this seller 5. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Search for a book to add a reference. One of her waka is included in the famous anthology Ogura Hyakunin Isshu as No. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. Seller Rating:. Gibney, Michele. The Pillow Book. Sei also devotes many of her entries to describing court outfits, because these—for example, the rich green robes of a Chamberlain—differentiated courtiers of various ranks. More information about this seller Contact this seller 5. Publication date Topics pillow book , sei shonagan , ivan morris , heian , japan , classics , culture , history , translated , japanese literature Collection opensource Language English. Condition: Fine. Item added to your basket View basket. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. Sign in. More information about this seller Contact this seller 8. First printed in the 17th century, it exists in different versions: the order of entries may have been changed by scribes with comments and passages added, edited, or deleted. Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book is definitely work that bears rereading, whether you go from beginning to end or just pick entries at random. This unique volume was first rendered into English in Book may have signs of shelve wear. More information about this seller Contact this seller 4.
Recommended publications
  • WOMEN WRITERS in JAPANESE LITERATURE, 900-1900 a Bibliography of Translations and Studies the Bibliography Below Is Divided Into
    WOMEN WRITERS IN JAPANESE LITERATURE, 900-1900 A Bibliography of Translations and Studies The bibliography below is divided into a list of translations and a list of secondary sources. Like the list of Genji translations and studies, it is intended to be comprehensive and thus contains some items that I would not recommend to my students. I should be glad to remedy errors or omissions. The bibliography is restricted to publications in English; I apologize for this limitation. GGR, September 2016 A. Translations At the House of Gathered Leaves: Short Biographical and Autobiographical Narratives from Japanese Court Literature, trans. Joshua S. Mostow. University of Hawai’i Press, 2004. →Contains an introduction and annotated translations of the following texts by women: The Takamitsu Journal (ca. 962), Collected Poems of Hon’in no Jijū (ca. 972), and The Diary of Lady Ise (mid tenth-century). Fujiwara Michitsuna no haha, Kagerō nikki (ca. 974). 1. Trans. Edward G. Seidensticker, The Gossamer Years: A Diary by a Noblewoman of Heian Japan. Tuttle, 1964. 2. Trans. Sonja Arntzen, The Kagerō Diary: A Woman’s Autobiographical Text from Tenth-Century Japan. Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1997. Sei Shōnagon, Makura no sōshi (ca. 993-1001). 1. Trans. Arthur Waley, The Pillow-book of Sei Shōnagon. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1928. Rpt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1929. 2. Trans. Ivan Morris, The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon. 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 1967. Rpt. Penguin Classics, 1971. 3. Trans. Meredith McKinney, The Pillow Book. Penguin Classics, 2006. →See also Valerie Henitiuk, Worlding Sei Shōnagon: The Pillow Book in Translation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pillow Book and Flower Tales, Past and Future
    Reading Girls’ Agency: The Pillow Book and Flower Tales, Past and Future Yu Umehara, University of Tsukuba, Japan The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2018 Official Conference Proceedings Abstract The topic of this paper emerged from a deceptively simple question: when and why did the linkage between girlhood and same-sex love emerge in Japanese culture? Ostensibly, the answer is clear. Flower Tales (Hana Monogatari) (1916–1924) was a serialized girls’ magazine by the popular Japanese writer Yoshiya Nobuko; the novel featured flowers and romantic same-sex friendships coupled with Nobuko’s depictions of a mutual crush. Dubbed as “S” (meaning sisterhood), such relationships captured the imagination of Japanese schoolgirls. Yoshiya claims, rather anachronistically, that it is often overlooked that that the tradition of girlish sentiments that unfold in Flower Tales originates in The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon during the 10th century. In fact, at the time of her writing during the 1910s and 1920s, Sei Shonagon was reevaluated—or devaluated—as a “new woman” in literary circles, whereas Lady Murasaki was universally celebrated as a good female writer. This paper reconsiders the cultural work of Flower Tales by situating it across space and time. I argue that the linkage between flowers and lesbianism in Flower Tales emerged not simply as a reaction to patriarchal heterosexism or the new science of sexology but was informed by a female rereading of The Pillow Book. Thus, Flower Tales reshapes the past in a way that it reshapes the future. Moreover, I will discuss the crucial role that horticultural education and science education played in the lives of Japanese schoolgirls, to explore the function of flowers in Flower Tales.
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Studies Review, Vol. XX (2016), Pp
    ISSN: 1500-0713 ______________________________________________________________ Article Title: Performing Prayer, Saving Genji, and Idolizing Murasaki Shikibu: Genji Kuyō in Nō and Jōruri Author(s): Satoko Naito Source: Japanese Studies Review, Vol. XX (2016), pp. 3-28 Stable URL: https://asian.fiu.edu/projects-and-grants/japan-studies- review/journal-archive/volume-xx-2016/naito-satoko- gkuyojoruri_jsr.pdf ______________________________________________________________ PERFORMING PRAYER, SAVING GENJI, AND IDOLIZING MURASAKI SHIKIBU: GENJI KUYŌ IN NŌ AND JŌRURI1 Satoko Naito University of Maryland, College Park Introduction The Murasaki Shikibu daraku ron [lit. “Story of Murasaki Shikibu’s Fall] tells that after her death Murasaki Shikibu (d. ca. 1014) was cast to hell.2 The earliest reference is found in Genji ipponkyō [Sutra for Genji] (ca. 1166), which recounts a Buddhist kuyō (dedicatory rite) performed on her behalf, with the reasoning that the Heian author had been condemned to eternal suffering in hell for writing Genji monogatari [The Tale of Genji] (ca. 1008). Though Genji ipponkyō makes no explicit claim to the efficacy of the kuyō, its performance is presumably successful and saves the Genji author. In such a case the earliest extant utterance of the Murasaki-in-hell story is coupled with her subsequent salvation, and the Genji author, though damned, is also to be saved.3 It may be more accurate, then, to say that the Murasaki Shikibu daraku ron is about Murasaki Shikibu’s deliverance, rather than her fall (daraku). Through the medieval period and beyond, various sources recounted the execution of kuyō rites conducted for The Tale of Genji’s author, often initiated and sponsored by women.4 Such stories of Genji kuyō 1 Author’s Note: I thank those who commented on earlier versions of this paper, in particular D.
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Literature and Poetry of the Heian Period Sei Shōnagon - Makura No Sōshi and Murasaki Shikibu - Genji Monogatari
    Humanities 1B Lindahl Japanese Literature and Poetry of the Heian period Sei Shōnagon - Makura no sōshi and Murasaki Shikibu - Genji Monogatari (from last time) Japanese forms of Buddhim, Zen Bushido – “the way of the warrior” The Martial Arts: Budo – the way of war (Kendo, Kyodo, Judo, Aikido) Beyond combat – Buddhism and Art (mono no aware and the sakura) Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) Woodblock print of Miyomoto Musashi by Utagawa Kuniyoshi Self-Portrait, Miyomoto Musashi, 1640, Miyomoto Musashi – Shrike on a Withered Branch (1640ish) The Golden Pavilion of Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku), Kyoto, 1390 CE Tsukiyama – landscape garden Kare-sansui - dry garden (sometimes “zen garden”) Zen Garden, Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto, 15th c., Garden, Daisen-in Temple, Kyoto, 1513 Chaniwa – tea garden, Chado – the way of tea Wa = harmony, Kei – respect, Sei – purity, jaku – tranquility Tea Bowl (called "U-no-hana-gaki"), Shinoware, 3 2/3" 16th c., Tea bowl "mine-no-momiji" Kado – the way of flower arranging (Ikebana) Heian Period and/or Fujiwara Period (794-1158 CE), Heian-Kyo / Kyoto Literature and Poetry in 11th c. Kyoto Writing – Kana/Hiragana, The "Heian aesthetic" – “mujokan” and “mono no aware” Sei Shōnagon (966- sometime after 1017) Makura no sōshi – The Pillow Book Empress Teishi (977-1000) Kokinshū and the form of the Waka (57577) and Haiku (575) Shodo – the way of brush writing (Calligraphy) The Thirty-six Immortal Poets Scroll - Lady Kodai no kimi, color on paper, 13th c. Fujiwara Nobuzane Page from the Anthology of the Thirty-Six Poets, Nishi Honangan-ji, 12th c. Page from the Anthology of the Thirty-Six Poets, Sanjuroku-nin Kashu, fragment from the Ise-shu, ink on colored paper, 12th c.
    [Show full text]
  • Overcoming Distance Full Article Language: En Indien Anders: Engelse Articletitle: 0
    _full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien B2 voor dit chapter en dubbelklik nul hierna en zet 2 auteursnamen neer op die plek met and): 0 _full_articletitle_deel (kopregel rechts, vul hierna in): Overcoming Distance _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0 76 Bowring Chapter 7 Overcoming Distance Richard Bowring A recent book review reminded me once again of the strange things that can happen when alien cultures come into contact. The book being reviewed was a study of the Rezeptionsgeschichte (it sounds better in German) in Japan of the Japanese classic the Pillow Book (Jpn. Makura no sōshi), but the reviewer’s main interest was not in fact the book in question but the Pillow Book itself and, by extension, its putative author, the Heian court lady Sei Shōnagon (966?–1017?). The reviewer had clearly found Sei Shōnagon herself a fascinat- ing figure to such a degree that the editor of the highly respected journal in question had felt it appropriate to give the review the title “Shōnagon is Hot.” My heart sank, of course, but it is a good example of how reception and inter- pretation is always work in progress, whatever one might think of the direction of travel. The Pillow Book has enchanted and engaged readers abroad ever since it was first translated into English by Arthur Waley in 1928. How can you not be drawn to a passage such as the following? A night when the moon is very bright. You are crossing a stream and as the oxen tread along, water goes scattering through the air like a shatter- ing of crystal—how magnificent!1 A curious mélange of such descriptions, anecdotes, and vibrant vignettes of life at court, mixed in with a series of apparently random lists and catalogues, which recount likes and dislikes, annoying things, pretty things, the acceptable and the unacceptable, this work tells us much of life in the Heian court as seen through the sharp eyes of someone on the margins, a highly placed female companion/servant to an imperial consort.
    [Show full text]
  • The Genji Monogatari
    The Genji Monogatari - “A Loose Sequence of Vague Phrases” ? Thomas Evelyn McAuley Ph. D. The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London ProQuest Number: 10731386 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731386 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract of Thesis In the thesis I test the hypothesis that Late Old Japanese (LOJ) is not, as has been claimed by a number of scholars, a language that is innately “vague”, but that it is capable of conveying meaning clearly. To prove this I analyse the text of the Genji Monogatari in a number of ways. I study the usage of honorifics in the text and the relationship between honorific usage and court rank. I show that honorific usage very often obviates the need for grammatical subjects and objects, and where honorifics or the context are not sufficient, the author introduces subjects to clarify the meaning of the text. Furthermore, I demonstrate that over brief sections of text, one character might be “tagged” with a particular honorific in order to identify them.
    [Show full text]
  • Yosano Akiko and the Tale of Genji / G.G
    Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji "Akiko on a Certain Day," from the early years of the Taisho period. Courtesy of Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd. Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji G. G. Rowley Ann Arbor 2000 Center for Japanese Studies The University of Michigan Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/ Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. Copyright © 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan Published by the Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan 202 S Thayer St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608 Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies Number 28 PERMISSIONS Material for chapter three draws upon an article "Literary Canon and National Iden- tity: The Tale ofGenji in Meiji Japan," Japan Forum 9.1 (1997): 1-15 and is reprinted here with permission of the British Association for Japanese Studies and Routledge. Material for chapter six first appeared in an article "Textual Malfeasance in Yosano Akiko's Shiny aku Genji monogatari" Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 58.1 (June 1998): 201-19 and is reprinted here with permission of the editors. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rowley, Gillian Gaye, 1960- Yosano Akiko and the Tale of Genji / G.G. Rowley. p. cm. — (Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies no. 28) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-939512-98-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Yosano, Akiko, 1878-1942—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Murasaki Shikibu, b. 978? Genji monogatari. I. Murasaki Shikibu, b. 978? Genji monogatari. II. Title. III. Series. PL819.O8R68 2000 895.6f144—dc21 99-089978 This book was set in Janson Text Jacket design by Seiko Semones This publication meets the ANSI/NISO Standards for Permanence of Paper fo Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives (Z39.48-1992).
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Shonagon' S the Pillow Book the American Diary of a Japanese Girl
    DRESSED TO CROSS: NARRATIVES OF RESISTANCE AND INTEGRATION IN SEI SHONAGON'S THE PILLOW BOOK AND YONE NOGUCHI'S THE AMERICAN DIARY OF A JA PANESE GIRL Ina Christiane Seethaler Saint Louis University In Japan around the year 1000, Sei ShOnagon adds a list to her Pil­ low Book in which she collects "Things that are distressing to see." Her first item on the list is "Someone wearing a robe with the back seam hitched over to one side, or with the collar falling back to reveal the nape of the neck" (Sh6nagon 117). This depiction of the gaping body stands as a signifier for ShOnagon's anxieties about maintaining class propriety. At the beginning of the twentieth-century, Morning Glory, a newly arrived Japanese immigrant to the U.S. and protagonist of Yone Nogu­ chi's The American Diary of a Japanese Girl (1902), secretly dresses in her uncle's clothes, wishing that she "could only be a gentleman for just one day!" (32). Morning Glory's desire to switch genders speaks to her perception of womanhood as marked by social powerlessness. What is at stake in these examples is the persistent cultural motif whereby people escape the imposition of cultured, gendered, or class norms. Though reading back more than a millennium, these stories speak to the power of bodily and sartorial transformations, whether startlingly permanent or temporarily enabling. They question categories of gender, class, and cultural integration and give insight into how early Japanese immigrants to the U.S. used clothing as subversion in a manner similar to century-old practices by Japanese women in need of securing survival.
    [Show full text]
  • Studying the Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon
    Jamie M. Foley March 2006 Studying the Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon Purpose: Social behavior in The Pillow Book can be compared to expected social norms of today. Essential Questions: 1. How do Sei Shonagon’s observations regarding social behavior compare to today’s social expectations? 2. What can readers infer about authors based on their chosen content and style? 3. Specifically, what can readers infer about Sei Shonagon and Heian Japan based on The Pillow Book? Rationale: Students can see the universality and applicability of early Japanese literature in their own lives. Materials: Excerpts from Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book Biographical information about the author (see attached outline) Basic classroom supplies Activities: 1. Begin class discussion with a general question regarding journals/diaries. Students should respond to the following questions: • What general topics would you (or do you) record in a personal journal? • What would someone be able to infer about you if they read your journal? • Conversely, what would you want to find out about someone through their writing? • If you were to write a journal for others to read, what would you include? How would this change your writing? 2. Students will then write a journal entry about what is the best aspects of each season of the year. (This will connect then to the first entry of The Pillow Book which describes the seasons.) Remind the students to use at least three specific traits of the season and one has to be tied to nature. They should try to use specific descriptive language and imagery.
    [Show full text]
  • Japanese Literature for the High School Classroom
    Japanese Literature for the High School Classroom An annotated bibliography compiled and edited by the Educational Outreach Department Japan Society Dear Educator, Japan has a rich literary heritage that offers readers a doorway into Japanese history and culture. For high school readers Japanese literature can bring alive the historical characters they may meet in social studies class. Japan also offers a fascinating comparison to the literature of western or other Asian countries. Japanese literature has always been closely related to the visual arts and offers countless subjects that can be transformed into a variety of art forms. This annotated bibliography was prepared to help high school educators explore the world of Japanese literature that is appropriate for use in their classrooms. Because of the great breadth of subject matter in Japanese literature, it is often difficult to find works that fit into the interest and lives of young people. To make the search easier we offer this list of works that has been reviewed by a committee of high school educators. The works span the literary spectrum from verse, drama, and essays to novels, diaries, and short stories. Some of the works, such as 11th century The Tale of Genji, are well-known masterpieces of world literature. Other pieces, such as the 1989 short story, TV People, examine technology and its effect on contemporary urban society. The reviewers were asked to rate the works according to their suitability in the high school classroom on a scale from 1 (not suitable) to 10 (very suitable). All of the works were well- known by those who follow the world of Japanese literature.
    [Show full text]
  • Primers, Commentaries, and Kanbun Literacy in Japanese Literary Culture, 950-1250CE
    Primers, Commentaries, and Kanbun Literacy in Japanese Literary Culture, 950-1250CE Jennifer Guest Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Jennifer Guest All rights reserved ABSTRACT Primers, Commentaries, and Kanbun Literacy in Japanese Literary Culture, 950-1250CE Jennifer Guest This project seeks a new perspective on issues of literacy, literary language, and cultural contact in the literature of premodern Japan by examining the primers used to study Chinese-style literature in the Heian and early medieval periods (c. 900-1250CE). Much of Heian literary production was centered on kanbun: “Chinese-style” writing that resembled classical Chinese and mobilized allusive connections to classical Chinese texts, but was usually read based on classical Japanese vocabulary and syntax. The knowledge gleaned from introductory kanbun education forms an important and little-researched common thread linking readers and writers from a wide range of backgrounds – from male and female courtiers to specialized university scholars to medieval monks and warriors eager to appropriate court culture. While tracing the roles of commonly-studied kanbun primers and commentaries in shaping Heian literary culture and its medieval reception, I consider key aspects of premodern Japan literacy – from the art of kundoku (“gloss-reading”) to the systems of knowledge involved in textual commentary and the adaptation of kanbun material. Examining the educational foundations of premodern Japanese literary culture demonstrates that kanbun and other literary styles functioned as closely entangled modes of literacy rather than as native and foreign languages, and that certain elements of classical Chinese knowledge formed a valued set of raw material for literary creativity.
    [Show full text]