Murasaki Shikibu: The Woman Who Wrote the World’s First Novel | Blog | Domestika (2024)

Writing
  • by Karen Mercado @karenmercado

Murasaki Shikibu: The Woman Who Wrote the World’s First Novel | Blog | Domestika (1)

Well before Cervantes, this Japanese writer authored The Tale of Genji, establishing the foundations of the novel

Written at the start of the seventeenth century, Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes, is often considered to be the "first modern novel" as the work that shaped our current understanding of the literary form.

The development of several characters, its episodic form, and a subject that sets it apart from the chivalric tales of the time made Don Quixote an important benchmark for the contemporary novel.

Yet, as early as the eleventh century, a Japanese lady-in-waiting at the court of Empress Fujiwara no Shōshi invented a particular form of narration that's now been labeled as the world’s first novel. Her work was The Tale of Genji.

A mysterious name

In spite of the wealth of information available about Murasaki Shikibu, one of the pieces missing from her biography is her name.

Historians believe her pen name is a reference to the plant known in Japan as murasaki—after which one of the novel’s characters is also named. While shikibu is believed to refer to the position the author’s father held at Japan’s imperial court.

However, some people believe her real name was Fujiwara no Kaoriko, linked to a diary entry written by another imperial court lady.

Lady-in-waiting, writer and poet

Murasaki was a member of the Fujiwara family whose ancestors were notable poets. Her talent for literature soon saw her invited to become a lady in waiting for Empress Shōshi. Her biographers record that the invitation arrived when she was widowed after two years of marriage, at a time when she had also started to write her greatest work.

During her lifetime, her literary talents were only known to two other court women. They exchanged poems, and she probably kept them entertained with her novel about life at court in Japan during the Heian period.

Murasaki also wrote numerous poems and kept a diary revealing her character and general unhappiness with life at court.

A classic novel about court life and great love

The Tale of Genji tells the story of Hikaru Genji, the son of an old emperor and a concubine, excluded from the royal line of succession. Murasaki relates the young Genji’s adventures and romances over fifty-four chapters, as he attempts to build an imperial career, also offering insight into aristocratic life at that time.

Perhaps it’s the clever and detailed way in which Murasaki recreates the fashions, main concerns, and contemporary events of Japanese aristocracy at the time that made The Tale of Genji a classic of Japanese literature. Another important feature of her writing is her poetic way of describing the characters—whom we never know by name, but through their ways of dressing, or political rank.

Her novel is a great testimony to the power of a young Japanese girl’s imagination. She lets us into her character’s minds and passions, and allows us to see what life was like some ten centuries ago.

Japanese, the language of women’s literature

During the Heian period (a time in which Chinese influence over the country was strong), Japanese women didn’t have access to Chinese language education. Instead, it was reserved for male nobles and poets, so women wrote their diaries, poems, and other texts in Japanese.

Because it was seen as a woman’s language, literature written in Japanese was less revered than its Chinese counterparts. However, centuries later, it was the work written by women that survived, becoming classic Japanese literature.

Many people say that Muraski used the kana syllabaries, which derived from the hiragana and the katakana systems.

Translations

The Tale of Genji was only available to Japanese readers who could understand how things were written during the Heian period.

In 1920, Arthur Waley was the first person to translate the novel, but he took many liberties creating a version that sacrificed the characters’ contemplative spirit and added more Western characteristics.

Japanese poets and writers including Yosano Akiko and Junichiro Tanizaki translated Genji into contemporary Japanese to open the door to new readers. This helped the story reach other parts of the world, and renewed interest in the original.

New chapters

The version of Murasaki’s novel we see today is actually a thirteenth-century compilation by Japanese poet Fujiwara no Teika. He edited Murasaki’s work 200 years after her death.

Renewed interest in The Tale of Genjji led to the recent discovery of four more chapters from Teika’s version, and the finding of a fifth chapter that experts believe is an older version of the text.

Murasaki Shikibu dedicated much of her life to a novel that is usually over 1,000 pages long, and she still guards many secrets that could reveal new clues to her identity and the nature of her work.

If you enjoyed this article and want to discover the work of more groundbreaking women, explore the Female Creatives section of our blog.

English version by @studiogaunt.

You may also like:

- Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry: The Muse Who Inspired The Little Prince
- How to Get a Book Published: 4 Tips for Aspiring Authors
- Shodo: Introduction to Japanese Calligraphy, a course by RIE TAKEDA

Like

  • Murasaki Shikibu: The Woman Who Wrote the World’s First Novel | Blog | Domestika (10)
Murasaki Shikibu: The Woman Who Wrote the World’s First Novel | Blog | Domestika (2024)

FAQs

What was the first novel by Murasaki Shikibu? ›

Written 1,000 years ago, the epic story of 11th-Century Japan, The Tale of Genji, was written by Murasaki Shikibu, a woman. Written 1,000 years ago, the Japanese epic The Tale of Genji is often called the world's first novel.

What is Lady Murasaki Shikibu most known for? ›

Murasaki Shikibu (born c. 978, Kyōto, Japan—died c. 1014, Kyōto) was a Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genji monogatari (c. 1010; The Tale of Genji), generally considered the greatest work of Japanese literature and thought to be the world's oldest full novel.

What happened to Murasaki Shikibu? ›

It is not known how Murasaki ended her days. Reportedly she retired to a Buddhist nunnery to reflect on the impermanence of the material world, just as many of the characters of The Tale of Genji did. She may have died in her mid-thirties, although some historians say that she lived on to 1025 or 1030.

Who was the woman given credit for writing the world's first novel The Tale of Genji? ›

Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji–written in the eleventh century and universally recognized as the greatest masterpiece of Japanese prose narrative and possibly the earliest true novel in the history of the world.

What was the world's first novel? ›

The world's first novel is thought to be The Tale of Genji, written in 11th Century Japan by a woman known to us only as Murasaki Shikibu.

What was the first book written by a woman? ›

The first known book in English by a woman was Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich. It was written between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and survived in various manuscripts until it was first published in 1670.

How did Lady Murasaki change the world? ›

Murasaki's contributions to Japanese and world literature are nearly priceless. Not only did she write the world's first novel, giving life to a completely new genre of literature, but she kept detailed records of Heian court life. Much of our information about this period comes from her diaries.

Is Murasaki Shikibu a feminist? ›

Indeed, Murasaki can be regarded as a medieval feminist who voiced her thoughts on gender inequality in a new language system. The characters she created are individualized rather than generalized.

What does murasaki mean in Japanese? ›

Murasaki is the Japanese word for: Lithospermum erythrorhizon (ムラサキ), commonly called purple gromwell. the colour purple (紫)

What are some interesting facts about Murasaki Shikibu? ›

Murasaki married in 998 or 999, but lost her husband in 1001. Her daughter, probably born in 999, became a distinguished poet. About 1006, Murasaki was called to serve the empress, no doubt because of her talent for writing stories. She last appears in a record dating from 1013, and may have died the following year.

Why did Genji love Murasaki? ›

Murasaki is Fujitsubo's niece. Because she looks so much like Fujitsubo, Genji falls immediately in love with her when he first meets her at age ten, and he decides he must raise her to be his perfect lover.

Why is purple Murasaki? ›

The Japanese word 紫 (むらさき, murasaki) refers to the color purple, but it's not just any purple—it traditionally signifies a hue with a slightly reddish tone, akin to the color of the Japanese purple gromwell plant, from which the dye historically came.

How many wives does Genji have? ›

He had two wives in the legal sense during his life; he married Lady Aoi (Aoi no Ue、葵の上) in his youth, and much later Onna san no Miya (女三の宮) (meaning "The Third Princess", called so in Japanese, and known as Nyōsan in the Arthur Waley translation.) Lady Aoi died after she bore a son to Genji.

What is the oldest known novel? ›

Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, an early 11th-century Japanese text, has sometimes been described as the world's first novel, because of its early use of the experience of intimacy in a narrative form.

Why is The Tale of Genji significant even today? ›

However, it still remains important today because it is a psychological novel that takes a look into what court life was like during the Heian period. The Tale of Genji has also influenced other areas of art such as painting and drama. Many paintings were done based on the book both in the Heian period and today.

Was Don Quixote the first novel? ›

Don Quixote is considered by literary historians to be one of the most important books of all time, and it is often cited as the first modern novel. The character of Quixote became an archetype, and the word quixotic, used to mean the impractical pursuit of idealistic goals, entered common usage.

What is the first novel? ›

Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, an early 11th-century Japanese text, has sometimes been described as the world's first novel, because of its early use of the experience of intimacy in a narrative form.

What is the first book written? ›

The earliest surviving written literature is from ancient Mesopotamia. The Epic of Gilgamesh is often cited as the first great composition, although some shorter compositions have survived that are even earlier (notably the “Kesh Temple Hymn” and “The Instructions of Shuruppak”).

What was the first English language novel? ›

Historically, the English novel has generally been seen as beginning with Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722), though modern scholarship cites Aphra Behn's Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (1684) John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) and Aphra Behn's Oroonoko (1688) as ...

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Reed Wilderman

Last Updated:

Views: 5689

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (72 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Reed Wilderman

Birthday: 1992-06-14

Address: 998 Estell Village, Lake Oscarberg, SD 48713-6877

Phone: +21813267449721

Job: Technology Engineer

Hobby: Swimming, Do it yourself, Beekeeping, Lapidary, Cosplaying, Hiking, Graffiti

Introduction: My name is Reed Wilderman, I am a faithful, bright, lucky, adventurous, lively, rich, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.