Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji

Sonja Arntzen, University of Toronto, Journal of Japanese Studies This volume presents a kaleidoscope of perspectives on Genji monogatari. The degree of abstraction implicit in its mandated philosophical approach makes patterns more apparent in the text. The immense variety of those patterns and their interlocking quality are dazzling. As the lens shifts from "space" to "exteriority/interiority" to "gender," it is almost as though a different novel appears... the uniformly high level of literary quality in all the essays makes this work a pleasurable read. All in all, this work admirably fulfi lls its goal of providing a philosophical exploration of Genji monogatari.

James McMullen, a Fellow of the British Academy, is a specialist on the history of Confucianism in Japan. He began his teaching career at the University of Toronto and is currently a Fellow Emeritus at Pembroke and St Antony's Colleges in the University of Oxford.

Editor's Note Series Editor's Introduction Introduction Chapter 1: The Structure of Genji's Career: Myth, Politics and Pride, Royall Tyler Chapter 2: The Epistemology of Space in The Tale of Genji, Wiebke Denecke Chapter 3: Ritual, Moral Personhood, and Spirit Possession in The Tale of Genji, James McMullen Chapter 4: Flares in the Garden, Darkness in the Heart: Exteriority, Interiority and the Role of Poems in The Tale of Genji, Edward Kamens Chapter 5: Calligraphy, Aesthetics, and Character in The Tale of Genji, Tomoko Sakomura Chapter 6: Genji's Gardens: Negotiating Nature at the Heian Court, Ivo Smits Chapter 7: Rethinking Gender in The Tale of Genji, Rajyashree Pandey Chapter 8: Murasaki's "Mind Ground:" A Buddhist Theory of the Novel, Melissa McCormick Further Reading Index