By Megan Ashley

 Life: 978 (?) – 1014 (1025?)  Lived and wrote during the Heian Period  Given name is unrecorded  Shikibu = Bureau of Ceremonials  Murasaki = Plant that produces purple dye stuff  “lesser branch of the powerful Fujiwara family”

 Married in 998 or 999  But lost husband in 1001  Gave birth to a daughter in roughly 999  Around 1006 was called to serve the empress as a hand maiden at the imperial court  Cause of death and year of death is unknown

 Taught herself Chinese by listening to her father teach her brother  The “frivolities” of writing in Japanese was confined to the women  Probably began The Tale of Genji while she was married and finished around 1012  Selected by the empress because of her writing talents  She earned a literary reputation  In addition to The Tale of Genji, she wrote The Diary of Lady Murasaki and Poetic Memoirs

 The early Japanese novel doesn’t necessarily look like what you and I think of as a novel  The earliest form of the Japanese novel is what they termed “Monogatari”  NOTE: Not all monogatari earn the title of “novel”  Monogatari:  Oral tradition  Fiction or fictional  A woman’s form  Extended prose narrative very like an epic  Prominent 9 th to 15 th century (peaked 10 th & 11 th c.)  Genji Monogatari, Taketori Monogatari, Heike Monogatari

 Chronicles the story of Prince Genji  Highlights:  Elaborate  54 chapters  Psychological  Remarkably consistent  Debated: First novel in the world  Not debated: First Japanese novel  Literary influence in Japan is quite large, even today  Considered a masterpiece of Japanese literature

 Most other pieces of literature being produced at the same time were collections of essays, diaries, and poetry  We see far more novels being written after the Heian period  The Tale of Genji was the beginning of the genre in Japan  From there, the Japanese novel continued to evolve  historically based or strange science fiction

"History of Japan's Literature." Kanzaki.com. The Web Kanzaki, 2 July Web. 18 Feb Keene, Donald. "Japanese Literature." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Sept Web. 18 Feb "Monogatari." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 18 Feb Tyler, Royall. "Murasaki Shikibu." Harvardmagazine.com. Harvard Magazine, Inc., May-June Web. 17 Feb