Readings for April 14th Class

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I just finished reading the excerpt "Yugao" from the Japanese lit anthology. It was interesting, especially in light of the fact that it was written in the eleventh century. The title is the name of a flower that has petals "like the lips of people smiling at their own thoughts."

The main character is Genji, a seventeen year old prince who tends to be attracted to women who are not of his social standing. He falls for a beautiful woman whose identiy remains a mystery until after she mysteriously dies. The excerpt left me with a few questions that probably would be answered in the full text.

The story features "night visits" that Professor Yamashita told us about in class.

Has anyone else read "Yugao?" What are your thoughts? Any thoughts on the other readings for Saturday?[Edit by="gsheppard on Apr 7, 5:08:36 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

From reading the short excerpt, "The Lady Who Loved Insects," I learned that it was chic in 12th century Japan to blacken one's teeth. The title of the story is a little misleading since the young protagonist is rather indifferent to butterflies. Rather, she is enchanted, much to her parents' dismay, with the caterpillars from which the butterflies grow. The girl likes all kinds of "disgusting insects." It was an odd story. It ends with a cliffhanger of sorts and we are told that there is no resolution to the story. Again, I'll be interested to hear what the professor has to say about the story.

[Anonymous]

I had a hard time getting into Genji and a couple of the other readings. Hiowever, I really enjoyed "daughters of the Moon" and the comparison of women writers from Europe and Asia. It's interesting to see that Europe isn't always as "Enlightened" as we think, especially from a World History perspective. I also enjoyed "The Tale of Heike" and the description of Kiso's female attendant, Tomoe. I found it extremely fascinating to read about a female warrior in a time that is dominated by male warriors. Even though the battle scenes sound like they are from a modern-day action movie, it was refreshing to see a woman being able to hold her own in this era.

John

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