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Mindlin Xavier, Helena

University of British Columbia

Genji monogatari is one of the most important works of Japanese premodern literature, written in the eleventh century by the court lady known as Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973–1014). This thesis will focus on the musical aspects of the narrative, namely performance scenes and the accompanying dialogues and poetic exchanges. While the abundance of musical scenes in the Genji is widely recognized in scholarship, there are still many aspects to be further researched. My primary goal is to show how music is a constitutive element of the text that deeply impacts narrative development and the relationship between characters. I will focus on the scenes concerning the Akashi Lady, a prominent female character in the tale who stands out for her close connection with music. In Chapter 1, I introduce gagaku, the musical tradition found in The Tale of Genji, giving a brief overview of its history, main genres, and a description of the instruments used. In Chapter 2, the core of this thesis, I analyze selected excerpts from Chapter 13 “Akashi,” and discuss scenes from later chapters that relate to the Akashi narrative, showing how music is an inseparable part of the Akashi Lady’s character which plays a crucial role in establishing her relationship with the protagonist Genji, while contributing to her path of social ascension. Through a close reading of the text and consideration of scholarship on the Genji, gagaku, and on music in the Genji, I demonstrate how music is conceived by the author as a narrative device. By arguing that music in the Genji should be treated as a form of narrative and not as a separate aspect that adds certain characteristics to the text, I hope to expand the interpretive possibilities not only of music, but other artistic manifestations present in the work.

Text

2024-12-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89992

Asian Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/