Alan G. Chalk Guides to Japanese Films
Lesson 2: The Tale of Genji
Readings: The
Tale of Genji, 11th c. novel, Lady Murasaki
excerpt, Chapter
IV "Yugao," Arthur Waley translation
Film: animated classic, The
Tale of Genji, 1987, Sugii.
Suggested grades: 12th (mature
students) and college
Themes:
The search for an ideal, enduring love; also,
the traditional
Japanese theme of "mono no aware," the deep awareness of the
impermanence
of youth, love, and beauty; finally, the continuing influence
of The Tale
of Genji on Japanese literature and the fine arts through the
centuries.
The story:
Because of the length and complexity of this 1090 page
work, it is neglected in world literature courses; however,
using a 39-page
chapter along with the 110-minute animated classic video, it
is possible
to have students experience and explore a significant portion
of the world's
first novel and one of the great works of world literature.
The key to understanding Prince Genji is to
withhold moral
judgment of his many--by modern standards--immoral relationships, and
to see his life as a tragic search for an enduring love to
fill the void
he has known since the early death of his young mother. He is presented
as exceptionally handsome (and androgynously beautiful)
intelligent, sensitive,
and gifted in the arts of poetry, dancing and loving. Although he moves
gracefully from one lover to another, he is always sincere in his love,
sensitive and different to each woman. He obviously loves life, but he
can never escape his obsessive search for love and his
accompanying awareness
of a tragic impermanence of the beauty and love he seeks.
Although there
dramatized versions of the The Tale of Genji are available, the
animated version conveys Murasaki's characters and their
world as mythic
and the stuff of cultural and intercultural dreams. Because of Genji's
affairs and the film's sophisticated dream-like images and symbolism,
this unit is suggested for mature students. Part of the
literary and film
adventure should be to understand and interpret the many layers of this
great work.
Teaching:
Understanding the complex gallery of
characters and relationships
requires some prerequisite historic and plot information to help with
the identification of the main characters and their relationships. The
introductions of the Waley and Seidensticker translations re
useful sources.
Also helpful are Rimer's A Reader's Guide to Japanese Literature
and his Modern Japanese Fiction and its Traditions.
After preparing
and motivating the students for the challenge, the teacher can assign
Chapter IV, "Yuago," allowing the next class for the discussion and a
showing of the first five minutes of the video which corresponds to the
episode in the reading. The full 110-minute film can then be shown in
the following three class sessions, allowing time for
introductory remarks
and, following the film segment, some questions. A final
class can focus
on the psychological interpretation of Murasaki's work. Fumiko Enchi's
Masks, draws allusions from the masks of Noh plays and episodes
from the The Tale of Genji. One of the main characters
from Enchi's
novel has written an essay (included in the novel, pages
46-57) interpreting
Lady Rukujo's role in the mysterious deaths of the Yuago lady
and Genji's
wife Lady Aoi as unconscious dominance of the other's
spirits. This source
can introduce a fascinating and controversial theme to the discussion
and also provide a modern example of The Tale of
Genji's continuing
influence on Japanese literature.
copyright Alan G. Chalk 2000
