| NOTA |
(★)"CL-079" es version renovada de este libro. (Here at last is a complete reader´s guide to Murasaki Shikibu´s eleventh-century classic,´The Tale of Genji´. Specifically intended for readers of the Arthur Waley and Edward G. Seidensticker translations, this book offers detailed precis and commentaries for the most widely read first nine chapters, with additional summaries of all the novel´s remaining chapters. The author thus charts the essential progress of the Tale and introduces the student to its more subtle complexities, describing some of the well-known themes, devices, and literary conventions of Lady Murasaki´s Heian Japan. Unfortunately, many modern, nonspecialist readers, being ignorant of its cultural and historical milieu, have hesitated at a full study of this thousand-year-old classic. To remedy the situation, the author here presents brief essays on the historical, philosophical, and cultural features of the novel. Discussed are such vitally relevant aspects as : Fujiwara bedchamber politics, the balance between the tenets of Shintoism and Buddhism, the pervasive concept of karma, and the poetic aesthetics of ´aware´. Besides several maps and sketches, further aids to study include a complete appendix of the Tale´s characters, cross-indexed for both translations. With transliterations and translations of the Japanese names, titles, and sobriquets, this provides a full and reliable list of all the numerous members of the Heian Cast. Both general readers and students will find the background information contained in this compact guide indispensable in their reading of the novel. Armed with the summaries and commentaries, all can now approach this ´pinnacle of Japanese literature´ with confidence and happy anticipation. ◆William J. Puette, poet and lecturer, first became interested in the world of The Tale of Genji as a resident of Kyoto, where the novel is set and where he lived and studied for two years. He has taught a survey course in Japanese literature for the University of Hawaii, and is a founding member of the Humanities Group for Asian Studies. His other works include´The Rain that Swells the Water (1973)´, and ´Bridge of Glass (1976)´. |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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