SEWING TOGETHER THE GŌKAN: TEXT THROUGH IMAGE IN THE NISE MURASAKI INAKA GENJI by CHARLOTTE K. MUELLER A THESIS Presented to the Department of the History of Art and Architecture and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts December 2012 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Charlotte K. Mueller Title: Sewing Together the Gōkan: Text Through Image in the Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture by: Akiko Walley Chairperson Glynne Walley Member Charles Lachman Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2012 ii © 2012 Charlotte K. Mueller iii THESIS ABSTRACT Charlotte K. Mueller Master of Arts Department of the History of Art and Architecture December 2012 Title: Sewing Together the Gōkan: Text Through Image in the Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji The gōkan is a medium of pre-modern Japanese literature where the story is told through a mixture of text and image on every page, with the narrative and dialogue of the story surrounding the image illustrations on all sides. The Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji (A Rustic Genji by a Fake Murasaki, 1829-42), written by Ryūtei Tanehiko (1783-1842) and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865), was one of the most popular gōkan of the Edo Period (1605-1868) and has been republished approximately twenty-four times from the end of the nineteenth century until today. By examining how these works handle text and image, this thesis seeks to gain a deeper understanding about how image functions in the gōkan genre. When text must be translated and the image altered from the original layout to make it comprehensible to modern readers, the resulting text and image combinations, or lack of image, offer insight into the importance of the role of image in gōkan. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Charlotte K. Mueller GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Florida, Gainesville International University of Japan (Kokusai Daigaku 国際大学), Urasa, Japan DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Japanese Art History, 2012, University of Oregon Master of Arts, International Business, 2009, University of Florida Bachelor of Arts, East Asian Languages and Literature: Japanese, 2008, University of Florida AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Edo period illustrated books and woodblock prints Heian period court literature Japanese textiles and costumes PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Curatorial Intern, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, 3 months Cataloger, University of Oregon Visual Resources Department, 3 months Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2 years GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Travel Grant, Research in Japan, University of Oregon Department of the History of Art and Architecture, 2012 Maude I Kerns GTF appointment, University of Oregon, 2012-2011 Student Artist, China-U.S.A. 2nd Teacher and Student Chinese Calligraphy Art Exhibition, Shanghai, China, 2008 v PUBLICATIONS: Charlotte Mueller trans. “The Palace of the Water God and the Flower Seller” and “Oni Roku.” In Japanese Folktales. Edited by Ann Wehmeyer. Forthcoming, 2014. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Akiko Walley and the members of my thesis committee for their support and encouragement in preparing this document. In addition, special thanks are in order to Professor Glynne Walley for providing the inspiration and reading tools necessary to unlock this fascinating medium. I am indebted to the Art History Department for their support in the form of a departmental travel grant, which made my research trip to Japan possible. I also thank my family for their support during this long process, particular my Mother, dedicated editor. Sensei Steve Thoms, Chantel Saban, Valerie Wingfield, Fang Hui and Zhu Han, many thanks are owed to you for helping me see this degree through when times were the blackest. vii To Grandpa: mentor, confidant, inspiration. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review................................................................................................... 4 Gōkan and Scholarly Assessment .................................................................... 4 Edo Period Commentary .................................................................................. 5 Literary Scholarship of the Inaka Genji ........................................................... 7 The Sumptuous Images of the Inaka Genji ...................................................... 10 The Art of Kunisada......................................................................................... 11 II. CHANGING FUNCTION OF TEXT AND IMAGE IN EDO PERIOD KUSAZŌSHI ............................................................................................ 14 Early Kusazōshi ..................................................................................................... 15 Akahon ............................................................................................................. 15 Kurohon ........................................................................................................... 18 Later Kusazōshi ...................................................................................................... 20 Kibyōshi ........................................................................................................... 20 Gōkan .............................................................................................................. 24 III. A MARRIAGE OF TEXT AND IMAGE ............................................................. 29 The Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji ............................................................................. 29 Plot Overview .................................................................................................. 29 Authorial Partnership ....................................................................................... 30 Formal Analysis of Selected Excerpt ..................................................................... 32 Reading the Flow of Text ................................................................................ 32 ix Chapter Page Excerpt 1 (Figure 3.3) ...................................................................................... 33 Excerpt 2 (Figure 3.5) ...................................................................................... 36 Excerpt 3 (Figure 3.7) ...................................................................................... 40 Excerpt 4 (Figure 3.8) ...................................................................................... 42 IV. CONTRASTING PUBLICATIONS: PRIVILEDGED TEXT OR FAVORED IMAGE .................................................................................................................. 45 A Parade of Publications ........................................................................................ 45 Before the Turn of the Century ........................................................................ 45 Publication in the Early Nineteenth Century ................................................... 49 A Final Fling in the Mid-Century .................................................................... 51 Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji: Specialized Interests ........................................... 52 Analysis of Text and Image in Published Versions ......................................... 53 V. INTRA-LANGUAGE TRANSLATION IN THE NISE MURASAKI INAKA GENJI ........................................................................................................ 58 Written Language in the Edo Period ...................................................................... 58 Kanbun Writing ............................................................................................... 58 Colloquial Writing ........................................................................................... 59 Genbunichi and Modernization ........................................................................ 59 Comparisons of Text, Image and Translation in the Inaka Genji .......................... 60 Translation and Theory .................................................................................... 61 Nihon Meicho Zenshū Kankokai’s 1927 Edition ............................................ 62 Iwanami Shoten’s 1995 Edition ....................................................................... 64 Intra-language Translation and Theory .................................................................. 66 x Chapter Page Text as Image ................................................................................................... 72 VI. THE NISE MURASAKI INAKA GENJI IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION ............. 74 Chris Drake’s 2002 English Translation ................................................................ 74 Donald Richardson’s 1985 English Translation .................................................... 76 Text, Image, and English Translation .................................................................... 83 VII. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................