Women of Japan’s 11th Century Classic, The Tale of Genji With John Wallace

Literature Courses
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Ishiyama Moon - One Hundred Aspects of the Moon, 1889. Color woodblock print. British Museum.

Women of Japan’s 11th Century Classic, The Tale of Genji With John Wallace

Instructor: 
John Wallace
When: 
Repeats every week every Sunday until Sun Nov 08 2015 except Sun Sep 20 2015, Sun Oct 04 2015.
September 13, 2015
Time: 
10:15 am - 12:15 pm
Place: 
See below
Fee: 
Sundays, September 13, 27, and October 11, 18, 25 and November 8 $110 Society members, $135 non-members (after Museum admission), includes $10 materials fee for the readings to be provided during class. Online sign ups are now closed. Locations for classes: 9/27: Education Studios, 10/11: Education Studios, 10/18: TBD, 10/25: Education Studios, 11/8: Education Studios

This course will deal with women in The Tale of Genji, fifteen of whom have entered the popular consciousness of Japan and continue to have lively existences as icons of beauty, jealousy, or tragic fate. They continue to evolve as visual topics for paintings and ceramics, and as characters in plays, films, and graphic novels. The lectures will be wide-ranging, at times focusing on a specific woman, at other times considering them collectively. Their depiction both within and without The Tale of Genji itself will be considered.

 

While the best approach to the course would be to read the first 41 chapters of Genji, there will be much shorter, targeted readings provided as the course progresses. No text is required, but the course will be a richer experience for those who read The Tale of Genji. For those who wish to purchase Genji, there are currently two standard translations each with their advantages – one by Edward Seidensticker, the other by Royall Tyler. A new translation by Dennis Washburn may be in print and available as an eBook by the time the course begins.

 

John Wallace is a Lecturer in the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture, UC Berkeley. He received his PhD from Stanford University and has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Stanford University. Wallace specializes in Heian literature and comparative romance. He previously taught Identity in Japanese Stories and Films, Tale of Genji, and Story of the Stone for the Society for Asian Art.

 
 

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