1 / 7

Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book

Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book. Author Sei Shonagon Lady-in-waiting for Empress Sadako during the last decade of the 10 th Century Personality revealed in The Pillow Book Complex, intelligent, knowledgeable, observant, flirtatious, quick-witted

hao
Télécharger la présentation

Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book

  2. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book • Author SeiShonagon • Lady-in-waiting for Empress Sadako during the last decade of the 10th Century • Personality revealed in The Pillow Book • Complex, intelligent, knowledgeable, observant, flirtatious, quick-witted • Admired imperial family; little respect for lower social orders • Significance of women writers in early Japan • Boys in court trained to write Chinese • Chinese believed to be beyond the grasp of girls, who wrote in Japanese • More people able to read Japanese than Chinese, ensuring the popularity of women writers like Shonagon

  3. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book • The Pillow Book • Collection of personal notes written during her ten years of court service • Character sketches, anecdotes, descriptions, lists, witty insights • Precursor to zuihitsu • Provides detailed portrait of upper-class life in Japan • Beginning in the 7th Century, Japan implemented new government hierarchy • Intended to diminish the influence of a number of powerful families • Reforms had little impact • Emperor ended up a figurehead controlled by the most powerful family—the Fujiwara family during the life of Shonagon • Emphasis placed on obtaining government posts • Posts tied to social rank • Pets and inanimate objects could have rank

  4. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book “In Spring It Is The Dawn” • Essentially, a catalog—Shonagon reveals things she finds beautiful in each of the four seasons, revealing her preferences and tastes. • TURN IN: Select/describe something you find beautiful that associated with each of the four seasons. “The Cat Who Lived In The Palace” • TURN IN: What is your response to what happens to Okinamaro; is your reaction in any way influenced by the fact that animals have social ranking?

  5. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book “Oxen Should Have Very Small Foreheads” • TURN IN: What is something (animal, item, whatever) that has to meet a very particular set of criteria in order for you to appreciate it? “Nothing Can Be Worse” • TURN IN: Shonagon reveals very pointed opinions about keeping up appearances of servants and attendants working for a master; what is a contemporary equivalent to such views? Explain.

  6. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book “Hateful Things” • Another catalog with a self-explanatory name… • TURN IN: Identify and briefly describe three things that get under your skin as much as the items here get under Shonagon’s. “Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster” • Catalog • TURN IN: Identify and briefly describe three things that make your heart beat faster…

  7. Japanese Lit: The Pillow Book “Things That Arouse A Fond Memory Of The Past” • And yet another catalog… • TURN IN: Identify/describe three objects or actions that evoke a fond memory of the past for you. “I Remember A Clear Morning” • Note the irony of the event and its outcome. • TURN IN: Describe a similar situation from your experiences, one in which something made an impression on you that had little to no effect on others.

More Related