Classical Women Writers Anew

Playing with text and image

6) Both of these images make reference to famous female writers. In the first, the picture of the two samurai, the top of the image is titled "One Hundred Poets, One poem" (a famous medieval collection). The small inserted image next to it is a picture of Murasaki Shikibu (978-1014), author of The Tale of Genji, with her poem, which can be roughly translated as "At last we meet again, but before I knew who it was, you vanished, like the moon behind clouds at midnight." Coincidentally, the other is a reference to the Murasaki's contemporary and rival, Sei Shōnagon (ca. 965 - ca. 1010), and HER poem in the same collection, which can be roughly translated as "Under cover of night, you feign the cock's crow, but no meeting shall be granted." In each, the relationship between the text and the image is very different. Which do you prefer? Why?

According to the colophon, the figures depicted in the lower part of the print are two samurai of Aizu; the large figure in the front is Isamu Sôkichirô, who has challenged the figure in the rear, Rokuya Ongun Taiyu, to a vendetta.
Utagawa Hiroshige III
Ogura-sen Hyakunin Isshu: Murasaki Shikibu (Kano'en Gundaiyu? and Isamu Rokichirô?, two Samurai of Aizu)
color woodblock print on paper
14 5/16 in x 9 15/16 in (36.35 cm x 25.24 cm)
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. J.E. Val-Mejias, M.D.
A woman in kimono sits with her sleeve to her mouth. The kimono is decorated with fall leaves, and she sits behind lacquwe tea ware. Above her are crest-like decorations in blue, backgrounding the open pages of a book.
Utagawa Kunisada
Seated Woman
color woodblock print on paper
13 3/4 in. x 9 7/16 in. ( 35 cm x 24 cm )
Gift of Barbara Harding Brown

0 Comments

0 Tags & 0 Keywords

Tags

Part of 1 Learning Collection

Seal Script
<p>Chinese origins</p>

Bronze
<p>Writing as Decoration</p>

Sutras
<p>Religious texts&nbsp;</p>

Classical Japanese vs. Classical Chinese
<p>medium <i>and </i>message</p>

Art and Information
<p>Camels and Poems</p>

Classical Women Writers Anew
<p>Playing with text and image</p>

Poems and Paintings
<p>One last look at text and image in a different m...

Rate this Resource

AVG: 0 | Ratings: 0

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved

Last Updated

August 26, 2020 10:03 a.m.

Report


Reporting Policy