Retelling a Tale in Pictures: A Fusion of the Arts in a Medieval Emaki of the Japanese Court Romance Geni npo monogatori Tale of Genji

Abstract

The Genji no monoga ta ri 源氏の物語, the Tale of Genji, b y the Japanese court lady Murasak i Shi kibu 紫式部 ( c . 9 7 3 – c . 1014), thought to have been completed around the year 1008, is one literary masterpiece of the Heian 平安 period (794–1185) that has been adapted for retelling many times. A little over one hundred years after its conception it had been adapted and lavishly illustrated as an emaki 絵 or “ picture scroll. This paper provides a discussion on the importance of the emaki to the representation of this early text