A Little Heian Lit
Finally finished Everyday Things in Modern Japan, which was excellent. It really engrossed me in a subject matter (historical demographics) that usually comes out quite dry. The emphasis is on the Edo period (better records for that time), but the author transitions from the late Sengoku period and also brings in some early Meiji period as well, as her thesis is that traditional Japanese home life didn't really change all that much (from Westernization) until WWII, except among the very rich or the intellectual class. Highly recommended.
I had two books come in this week that I'm really looking forward to reading, both examples of Heian literature. (Wait, don't look at me like that, I know we're poor, but they were used ex-library copies and they were cheap!)
The first was The Changelings (Torikaebaya monogatari no kenkyu), translated by Rosette Willig. This is a story about a brother and sister who decide to "switch places" and each live as the opposite sex. Yes, it sounds like shoujo manga (wait, it IS shoujo manga!), but the story was actually written by an anonymous author sometime between 1196 and 1202. They're not sure if the author is male or female. The writing seems female, but evidently poorly done, so it may be a man imitating a woman, in the same way that Ki no Tsuriyuki did in his Tosa Diary. Anyway, I've been looking for this book for a long time, but just recently found it at a price I was willing to pay. It looks like it will be entertaining.
The second was one I stumbled across recently: The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu (Kenreimon-in Ukyo no Daibu shu), translated by Phillip Tudor Harris. Set during the same time period as the Tale of the Heike, it features some of the Taira clan in a very different light. Lady Daibu's (not her real name, btw) birthdate is unknown, but scholars put it somewhere between 1150 and 1160. She is last heard from in 1232, when she is approached for a couple of her poems to be included in an imperial collection, the Shinchokusenshu. I lucked out on this one and only paid $5 (plus shipping, which made it like $9)! I've only read in about 50 pages so far (all introduction--there's like three introductory essays before the actual translation begins), but so far, so good. Great, concise information about the end of the Heian era, court life and how to put the work in its historical context. Also, the next SCA project I wanted to do (besides all the sewing, which comes with the territory) was a shu (poetry collection), and this book is exactly the format I wanted to emulate.
Damn, I'm such a geek!
