On Heian journaling conventions...

[telophase]

(From a comment I replied to m00nface with*) I seemed to have bogged down on Genji, but I'm mostly through The Confessions of Lady Nijo, which was written about 200 years after Murasaki, but still reads like diaries of Murasaki's time. It's hard to figure out who people are in it, especially since they get promoted and their title changes and she uses titles instead of names and doesn't bother to say "Captain Soandso was promoted and is now Minister Thusandsuch" and so much of the really gossipy stuff is between the lines and the emotions she expresses are all stylized into acceptable Heian expressions and she jumps years without explaining what happened in between so all of a sudden there's all these new people and you don't know what's going on but by God, I know EXACTLY what everybody is wearing.



* m00nface is taking Classical Japanese this year and gets to read parts of Genji and The Pillow Book in the original. I encouraged her to post whatever she learns to reading_genji

Comments

[marith.livejournal.com]

I liked Lady Nijo well enough, but she seemed like an awfully depressed person even by sensitive-Heian-noble standards.

The World of the Shining Prince is as fascinating as everyone says. And by coincidence this week's new anime viewing was the beginning of Otogi Zoshi and it ties in beautifully with the Morris history. (Plus bonus onmyoji.) If you haven't seen it, I completely recommend doing so for the period feel and the lovely art.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Raised from the age of 4 in the emperor's court, married to him at 14, later used as a go-between for some of his other affairs, pimped out by him on occasion, if I read those sections aright, forced to have most of her children taken or sent away ... gosh, I'm totally not surprised by the depression thing. :D

Thanks for the rec- I'll try to catch it.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

When I saw the title of the post, I immediately thought, "Cons? Heian cons? What sort of crackfic idea is that?"

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay, it's not just me. XD

[telophase.livejournal.com]

If there's ever more than 2 or 3 of the people on my friendslist in the same area, I promise we'll all get together and languidly complain of unsightly peasants.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

If there's ever more than 2 or 3 of the people on my friendslist in the same area, I promise we'll all get together and languidly complain of unsightly peasants.

[marith.livejournal.com]

I shall have to prepare a poem just in case.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

And have panels like "Genji: Misunderstood or Really Just a Skank?" and "Recent Trends in Court Fashions," followed by Saturday night filking competitive poetry reading.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Imagine the cosplay!