The Tale of Genji : translation, canonization, and the world literature

Michael Emmerich thoroughly revises the conventional narrative of the early modern and modern history of The Tale of Genji . Exploring iterations of the work from the 1830s to the 1950s, he demonstrates how translations and the global circulation of discourse they inspired turned The Tale of Genji into a widely read classic, reframing our understanding of its significance and influence and of the processes that have canonized the text. Emmerich begins with an analysis of the lavishly produced best seller Nise Murasaki inaka Genji ( A Fraudulent Murasaki's Bumpkin Genji, 1829-1842 ), an adaptation of Genji written and designed by Ryutei Tanehiko, with pictures by the great print artist Utagawa Kunisada. He argues that this work introduced Genji to a popular Japanese audience and created a new mode of reading. He then considers movable-type editions of Inaka Genji from 1888 to 1928, connecting trends in print technology and publishing to larger developments in national literature and showing how the one-time best seller became obsolete. The study subsequently traces Genji 's reemergence as a classic on a global scale, following its acceptance into the canon of world literature before the text gained popularity in Japan. It concludes with Genji 's becoming a "national classic" during World War II and reviews an important postwar challenge to reading the work after it attained this status. Through his sustained critique, Emmerich upends scholarship on Japan's preeminent classic while remaking theories of world literature, continuity, and community. Michael Emmerich thoroughly revises the conventional narrative of the early modern and modern history of "The Tale of Genji". Exploring iterations of the work from the 1830s to the 1950s, he demonstrates how translations and the global circulation of discourse they inspire turned "The Tale of Genji" into a widely read text. Emmerich begins with an analysis of the lavishly produced best seller "Nise Murasaki inaki Genji" ("A Fraudulent Murasaki's Bumpkin Genji", 1829-1842), an adaptation of "Genji" written and designed by Ryūtei Tanahekio. He argues that this work introduced "Genji" to a popular Japanese audience and created a new mode of reading. He then considers movable-type editions of "Inaka Genji" from 1888 to 1928, connecting trends in print technology and publishing to larger developments in national literature and showing how the one-time best seller became obsolete. The study subsequently traces "Genji"'s reemergence as a classic on a global scale. It concludes with "Genji's"'s becoming a "national classic" during World War II and reviews an important postwar challenge to reading the work after it attained this status. -- From publisher's description "Ambitious and engrossing, this volume thoroughly revises the conventional narrative of The Tale of Genji's early modern and modern history, arguing that until the 1930s readers were less familiar with the eleventh-century work than scholars have assumed. Exploring iterations of the work from the 1830s to the 1950s, Michael Emmerich demonstrates how translations and the global circulation of discourse they inspired turned The Tale of Genji into a widely read classic, reframing not only our understanding of its significance and influence but also the processes that have canonized the text. In doing so, he supplants the passive concept of 'reception' with the active notion of 'replacement, ' revitalizing the work of literary criticism"--Provided by publisher. Read more... Abstract: Tracing the canonization through translation of The Tale of Genji from the 1830s to the 1950s, Michael Emmerich rewrites the early modern and modern history of the work, illuminating the intricate process by which it came to be recognized as a classic of both Japanese and world literature. Read more... Replacing The Text -- Ninety-nine Years In The Life Of An Image -- Remagining The Canon -- A Gōkan Is A Gōkan Is A Gōkan : Inaka Genji Beyond Parody -- Reading Higashiyama : Image, Text And Book In Inaka Genji -- Turning A New Page : Bibliographic Translation And The Yomihonization Of Inaka Gengi -- Touchstone 2 : The Triangle -- The History Of A Romance : Genji Before Waley -- From The World To The Nation : Making Genji Ours -- Genji Monogatari : Translation And Origial -- Turning To Translation, Returning To Translation. Michael Emmerich. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Michael Emmerich is associate professor of Japanese literature and cultural studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the editor of Read Real Japanese Fiction and New Penguin Parallel Text: Short Stories in Japanese, and the translator of more than a dozen books. HIS050000,History/Asia/Central Asia,LIT008030,Literary Criticism/Asian/Japanese