(no subject)
I recently finished my MA Thesis on the stories told by the men in the Hahakigi chapter (2), and in the course of that study I came across a very interesting theory of the ordering of the early chapters of Genji. It has long been recognized that there are problems in the early Genji chapters as they stand; they're in rough chronological order, but there are some odd features in them (one example is the way the Rokujo Haven appears in chapter 4 suddenly, as though the reader already knew who she was).
A theory advanced by Aileen Gatten and some Japanese scholars is that the chapters were not originally written in their current order, but were only later edited together (perhaps by Murasaki Shikibu herself) into chronological order.
The theory goes that there were three "layers" of composition:
1. The genesis of the tale was a proto-version of chapters 12 and 13 (Suma and Akashi); the "young noble in exile" was a common trope, as was the "discovering a good woman in the boondocks", so the story would have been very familiar.
2. The next chapters to be composed were 1, 5, 7-11, 14, 17-21. One of the primary pieces of evidence for this is that the characters introduced in the other chapters (i.e. Utsusemi, Suetsumuhana) do not appear in any of these chapters. Also, the story flows much better like this -- it's more focused on the Aoi/Murasaki/Fujitsubo/Rokujo "square". Chapter 1 has also been considered suspicious for a long time because careful reading of the chapter suggests that it was intended to give character background of a character with which the readers were already familiar. Also in chapter 5, there is a somewhat cryptic reference to the Akashi Lady early in the chapter, which makes a lot more sense if the readers already know her from reading #1 above.
3. After this, Murasaki Shikibu went back and wrote 2-4, 6, and 15-16. Now some of the oddities in these chapters seem less so. For instance, there is a very cryptic reference to Fujitsubo in chapter 2, but if we assume the reader has already read the chapters given in part 2, it's no longer so cryptic. The same can be said about the sudden entrance of Rokujo into chapter 4 -- if the reader is already familiar with her, it no longer seems so sudden.
From 22 and on, the chapters were probably composed in their present order.
This is somewhat of a controversial theory because it completely overturns longstanding theories of foreshadowing and other narrative techniques that had been given as examples of Murasaki Shikibu's narrative genius (i.e. the sudden introduction of Rokujo). But I do think that the beginning of the story would be much less overwhelming if you follow the 1, 5, 7-11 ordering given above -- there are many fewer extraneous characters and the action of the story is more focused.
A theory advanced by Aileen Gatten and some Japanese scholars is that the chapters were not originally written in their current order, but were only later edited together (perhaps by Murasaki Shikibu herself) into chronological order.
The theory goes that there were three "layers" of composition:
1. The genesis of the tale was a proto-version of chapters 12 and 13 (Suma and Akashi); the "young noble in exile" was a common trope, as was the "discovering a good woman in the boondocks", so the story would have been very familiar.
2. The next chapters to be composed were 1, 5, 7-11, 14, 17-21. One of the primary pieces of evidence for this is that the characters introduced in the other chapters (i.e. Utsusemi, Suetsumuhana) do not appear in any of these chapters. Also, the story flows much better like this -- it's more focused on the Aoi/Murasaki/Fujitsubo/Rokujo "square". Chapter 1 has also been considered suspicious for a long time because careful reading of the chapter suggests that it was intended to give character background of a character with which the readers were already familiar. Also in chapter 5, there is a somewhat cryptic reference to the Akashi Lady early in the chapter, which makes a lot more sense if the readers already know her from reading #1 above.
3. After this, Murasaki Shikibu went back and wrote 2-4, 6, and 15-16. Now some of the oddities in these chapters seem less so. For instance, there is a very cryptic reference to Fujitsubo in chapter 2, but if we assume the reader has already read the chapters given in part 2, it's no longer so cryptic. The same can be said about the sudden entrance of Rokujo into chapter 4 -- if the reader is already familiar with her, it no longer seems so sudden.
From 22 and on, the chapters were probably composed in their present order.
This is somewhat of a controversial theory because it completely overturns longstanding theories of foreshadowing and other narrative techniques that had been given as examples of Murasaki Shikibu's narrative genius (i.e. the sudden introduction of Rokujo). But I do think that the beginning of the story would be much less overwhelming if you follow the 1, 5, 7-11 ordering given above -- there are many fewer extraneous characters and the action of the story is more focused.