Dear MEL Topic Readers,
The Tale of Genji: The world’s first novel?
Murasaki Shikibu was born in 970’s as a
daughter of Fujiwara Tametoki, a medium rank Japanese aristocrat and an author
of Japanese waka and Chinese poetry. It was after she became a widow in 1001 that
she started writing what is considered the world’s oldest novel, the Tale of
Genji. It centers on the life and loves of an elegant and highly sophisticated
Hikaru Genji, who was born to an Emperor during the Heian Period. The story composed
of 54 chapters and is broadly divided into three sections. This
thousand-page-long story was first translated into modern Japanese nearly a millennium
after it was written.
Enjoy watching the video to learn about this ancient
tale of a handsome prince who enjoyed endless romances in and around the
palace.
No comments:
Post a Comment