World Lit Module 7 Japanese

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GEC 14

WORLD LITERATURE

MODULE 7
JAPANESE LITERATURE

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact


with China and Chinese literature, and were often written in Classical Chinese. Indian
literature also had an influence through the spread of Buddhism in Japan. Eventually,
Japanese literature developed into a separate style, although the influence of Chinese
literature and Classical Chinese remained. Following Japan's reopening of its ports to
Western trading and diplomacy in the 19th century, Western literature has influenced
the development of modern Japanese writers, while they have in turn been more
recognized outside Japan, with two Nobel Prizes so far, as of 2020.

Before the introduction of kanji from China to Japan, Japan had no writing


system; it is believed that Chinese characters came to Japan at the very beginning of
the fifth century, brought by immigrants from the mainland of Korean and Chinese
descent. Early Japanese texts first followed the Chinese model, before gradually
transitioning to a hybrid of Chinese characters used in Japanese syntactical formats,
resulting in sentences written with Chinese characters but read phonetically in
Japanese.

Chinese characters were also further adapted, creating what is known


as man'yōgana, the earliest form of kana, or Japanese syllabic writing. The earliest
literary works in Japan were created in the Nara period. These include the Kojiki (712),
a historical record that also chronicles ancient Japanese mythology and folk songs;
the Nihon Shoki (720), a chronicle written in Chinese that is significantly more detailed
than the Kojiki; and the Man'yōshū (759), a poetry anthology. One of the stories they
describe is the tale of Urashima Tarō.

The Heian period has been referred to as the golden era of art and literature in
Japan. During this era, literature became centered on a cultural elite of nobility and
monks. The imperial court particularly patronized the poets, most of whom were
courtiers or ladies-in-waiting. Reflecting the aristocratic atmosphere, the poetry was
elegant and sophisticated and expressed emotions in a rhetorical style. Editing the
resulting anthologies of poetry soon became a national pastime. The iroha poem, now
one of two standard orderings for the Japanese syllabary, was also developed during
the early Heian period.
The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari), written in the early 11th century by a
woman named Murasaki Shikibu, is considered the pre-eminent novel of Heian
fiction. Other important writings of this period include the Kokin Wakashū (905),
a waka-poetry anthology, and The Pillow Book (Makura no Sōshi) (990s). The Pillow
Book was written by Sei Shōnagon, Murasaki Shikibu's contemporary and rival, as an
essay about the life, loves, and pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's court. Another
notable piece of fictional Japanese literature was Konjaku Monogatarishū, a collection of
over a thousand stories in 31 volumes. The volumes cover various tales from
India, China and Japan.

The 10th-century Japanese narrative, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori


Monogatari), can be considered an early example of proto-science fiction. The
protagonist of the story, Kaguya-hime, is a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth
for safety during a celestial war, and is found and raised by a bamboo cutter. She is
later taken back to her extraterrestrial family in an illustrated depiction of a disc-shaped
flying object similar to a flying saucer.

The Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote the story “Rashomon.” It is


about the encounter of a servant and an old woman in a place called Rashomon. The
servant believes that it is bad to steal even if you are hungry. The old woman believes
that it is not bad to steal if that is the only way to survive. And so, the servant steals
the clothes of the old woman in order to survive. The other literary works of Ryunosuke
Akutagawa were: (1) In A Grove; (2) The Nose; (3) The Spider’s Thread; (4) The
Handkerchief; (5) Magic; and many more.

END

Questions:
1) Why was the Heian Period referred to as the golden era of art and literature in
Japan?
2) Why were Chinese characters adapted in the Japanese writing system?
3) How did Indian Literature influence Japanese literature?
4) Who is Ryunosuke Akutagawa?
5) Who is Sei Shōnagon?

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