Female Spirit Possession and Sexuality in Genji monogatari Nolan Miller miller910@marshall.edu

Heian Court Background (794-1185) Gender Inequality “Marriage Politics” Polygamist Society Outlets of Frustration Nikki Monogatari Fig. 2. The Rokujō Woman. (Hokusai)

Murasaki Shikibu (973?-1014?) Genji monogatari (1008) Murasaki Shikibu’s interpretation of Heian court life Protagonist Hikaru Genji Genji monogatari as Social Commentary Male sexual privilege through marriage politics Women undermining male sexual power Spirit Possession Methods of Undermining Male Sexuality Collective consciousness Performativity Fig. 3. Murasaki Shikibu. (Mitsuoki)

Collective Consciousness Aoi and the Rokujō Lady The Carriage Quarrel Waka recitation Newly found feminism Fig. 4. The Rokujō Woman and Aoi no Ue. (Yumemishi)

Performativity Murasaki Akashi’s daughter’s adoption Ideal image of a woman Monogatari as means of escape Fig. 5. Young Murasaki and Genji (link)

Spirit Possession Effectiveness Does spirit possession outside of monogatari undermine male sexual privilege? Fig. 5. Genji holding one of his consorts (link)

Works Cited Bargen, Doris G. A Woman's Weapon: Spirit Possession in the Tale of Genji. University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji. Trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin Group, 2001. Nickerson, Peter. “The Meaning of Matrilocality. Kinship, Property, and Politics in Mid-Heian.” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 48, no. 4, 1993, pp. 429–467., www.jstor.org/stable/2385292. Accessed 20 February 2017.

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