Genji chapter 2 also popped up unexpectedly in my essay this week! Reading Genji in the 21st century has been really difficult for me. I started by buying Yamato Waki's manga version a few years ago, but interestingly, she skips chapter 2 and the Utsusemi story. I was fascinated when you mentioned that Seidensticker skipped it too, I've never read the Seidensticker version. I quoted Waley in my essay, but then it occurred to me to check Royall Tyler. I hadn't read his translation but I'd just bought it. He changed the tone of that passage with paragraphing!
Imagining what Yamato Waki would have drawn if she had included Utsusemi is really scary. I'm finding it hard to get rid of that mental image of Chujo standing in the hallway outside Genji's room.
I was a terrible philosophy student, so I desperately need to go read your 3 Quarks essay!
I think chapter two is off-putting. I can definitely understand why translators would skip it. Chapter one is also not fabulous since it feels tacked on... I think it was written at the end to provide background information about Genji's heritage. Also it is not rooted in a season like most of the rest of the chapters. It was also hard to understand why the Utsusemi chapter was broken into two chapters like this....I love what you said about tone.
Thank you so much!! I think if I ever attempted to write about literature it would be about the Kokinshū. I know you are really-reading Cranston’s Man’yōshū…. I got a copy as well and hoping to re-read that too this year. He also translated Izumi Shikibu Nikki— wonderful scholar ❤️
Only the first two volumes of Cranston's five volumes were published before he died. I hope the other three will eventually be published or made available in some way. I am going to see Carl Kay in Tokyo (leaving Sunday). Carl was a student of Cranston and I hope he has some way to get access. I really like Cranston's translations and his whole approach to this tradition.
Oh that’s so wonderful that you’re going to Tokyo this week. I hope you have a fantastic trip and I can’t wait to see pictures! I really agree with you that I have always been a fan of his work and his translations. I think he’s probably my favorite literary translator of the classics.
This is so thought provoking, Leanne! I really appreciate your comments in response to Pandey's work. Indeed, you've packed so much into this short piece. I have to dive in to Genji this weekend!
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. I forgot to mention in the post that it seems like the first chapter was written last. It’s not actually grounded in one season like so many of the other chapters are and it probably was put on at the end just to explain his lineage. So I really like the second chapter because you just feel you’re in early summer!
A thought about Cartesian thought and the English language. What comes immediately to mind is the work of George Oppen (1908 - 1984) in his poems. He is inimitable. I can't say that I've gone through his work with an eye (or ear) searching for his break down and recovery of dualities, but just his definition of the poem gives you a crucial part of his vision. I've read and re-read him more times than I can count. "A poetry of the meaning of words/ And a bond with the universe/ I think there is no light in the world/ but the world/ And I think there is light." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/george-oppen
Genji chapter 2 also popped up unexpectedly in my essay this week! Reading Genji in the 21st century has been really difficult for me. I started by buying Yamato Waki's manga version a few years ago, but interestingly, she skips chapter 2 and the Utsusemi story. I was fascinated when you mentioned that Seidensticker skipped it too, I've never read the Seidensticker version. I quoted Waley in my essay, but then it occurred to me to check Royall Tyler. I hadn't read his translation but I'd just bought it. He changed the tone of that passage with paragraphing!
Imagining what Yamato Waki would have drawn if she had included Utsusemi is really scary. I'm finding it hard to get rid of that mental image of Chujo standing in the hallway outside Genji's room.
I was a terrible philosophy student, so I desperately need to go read your 3 Quarks essay!
I think chapter two is off-putting. I can definitely understand why translators would skip it. Chapter one is also not fabulous since it feels tacked on... I think it was written at the end to provide background information about Genji's heritage. Also it is not rooted in a season like most of the rest of the chapters. It was also hard to understand why the Utsusemi chapter was broken into two chapters like this....I love what you said about tone.
I hope you continue this wonderful series (and I see it becoming a book). I will want to have this with me the next time I reread Genji.
Thank you so much!! I think if I ever attempted to write about literature it would be about the Kokinshū. I know you are really-reading Cranston’s Man’yōshū…. I got a copy as well and hoping to re-read that too this year. He also translated Izumi Shikibu Nikki— wonderful scholar ❤️
Only the first two volumes of Cranston's five volumes were published before he died. I hope the other three will eventually be published or made available in some way. I am going to see Carl Kay in Tokyo (leaving Sunday). Carl was a student of Cranston and I hope he has some way to get access. I really like Cranston's translations and his whole approach to this tradition.
Oh that’s so wonderful that you’re going to Tokyo this week. I hope you have a fantastic trip and I can’t wait to see pictures! I really agree with you that I have always been a fan of his work and his translations. I think he’s probably my favorite literary translator of the classics.
This is so thought provoking, Leanne! I really appreciate your comments in response to Pandey's work. Indeed, you've packed so much into this short piece. I have to dive in to Genji this weekend!
I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. I forgot to mention in the post that it seems like the first chapter was written last. It’s not actually grounded in one season like so many of the other chapters are and it probably was put on at the end just to explain his lineage. So I really like the second chapter because you just feel you’re in early summer!
A thought about Cartesian thought and the English language. What comes immediately to mind is the work of George Oppen (1908 - 1984) in his poems. He is inimitable. I can't say that I've gone through his work with an eye (or ear) searching for his break down and recovery of dualities, but just his definition of the poem gives you a crucial part of his vision. I've read and re-read him more times than I can count. "A poetry of the meaning of words/ And a bond with the universe/ I think there is no light in the world/ but the world/ And I think there is light." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/george-oppen
I’ve never heard of this poet before but I’m really looking forward to reading more!