Mic drop moment for Lady Murasaki with this salty remark 🙌🏽 In her own life, from what little I know, she was also critised for her knowledge of Chinese language, literature, and philosophy. Women were not supposed to worry their pretty (and heavy—the length of hair!!) heads over these things. #Genji #Genji21 @Lindy
Lindy 🙌 6y
Lindy @batsy Thanks for reminding me that it‘s time to discover the delights in the next chapter of Genji. 😁 @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit 6y
Tanisha_A Yeah, looks like that head is only for decorating. Oh but how she writes. 💕 6y
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batsy @Lindy LOL ... Only because the time zone difference puts me ahead of you guys. This one is a looong chapter; hope I can finish it before bed 😅 6y
saresmoore I highlighted this, too, and was planning to post about it! It seems our hopeful suspicions about some stealthy feminist undertones are being confirmed! #rudeladywriters #brainsburiedundersilkandhair 6y
Daisey @batsy Thanks for the heads up on a long chapter. I might try to get ahead a bit today on my day off so I won‘t put it off until tonight. 6y
Daisey @saresmoore Great hashtags! 6y
batsy @Tanisha_A Indeed! I sound like a broken record for repeating this but the narrative voice asserting itself unexpectedly in parts is one of the highlights 😁 6y
batsy @saresmoore Bahahaha that hashtag! 6y
batsy @Daisey You're welcome! I think the next one is also a bit lengthy but shorter than today's 😉 6y
Daisey @Lindy @batsy @saresmoore I just got to this part in the Tyler translation and I would not at all have read this same meaning about knowledge of Chinese writing or scholarly thinking in it. “. . . it also conveyed a father‘s love so movingly that all present wept while they hummed it. However, a woman has no business repeating what she cannot know, and since I do not wish to give offense, I have omitted it.” (edited) 6y
Lindy @batsy I wholeheartedly agree about the authorial voice. I get a tingle each time she slips herself in. 6y
batsy @Daisey @Lindy @saresmoore The difference between the translations is fascinating and intriguing. I'm always curious about the translator's choices. I might even be ready to read a whole book about Genji translations, if one exists, once I'm done with this 😁 6y
batsy @Lindy A tingle! Yes 👍🏽 6y
Lindy @batsy @Daisey @saresmoore The same passage in the Waley translation: “But women are not supposed to know anything about Chinese literature, and I will not shock your sense of propriety by quoting any of the poems—even that by which Genji so deeply moved his hearers.” 6y
batsy @Lindy @Daisey @saresmoore Thank you! It looks like the Tyler translation is less particular about emphasising the "women & knowledge of Chinese literature" aspect. 6y
saresmoore Hurm, very interesting! I still think the implication is there that she had acquired the necessary knowledge to understand, in all three translations. (So says my obstinate feminist heart.) @Daisey @batsy @Lindy 6y
Lindy @saresmoore I am making the same interpretation, even though it‘s not as equally clearly stated in all three translations. 6y
Daisey @batsy @saresmoore @Lindy I agree it‘s there in all three, but I would not have been able to pick up on it on my own from the wording of the Tyler translation. So glad you‘re sharing these statements more clearly visible in the Washburn translation. 6y
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