Nice discussion. Just wait until we actually have more of the real story to discuss, lol.
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Originally Posted by SuperKnuckles
...Also, all the crazy sexual adventures within family reminds me of many ancient mythologies. I guess the overall idea is the same. Put weird family connections and yet weirder morality on top. That basically is Genji in a nutshell.
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That is Genji leaving out all the important bits, lol. I just come back to the necessity of trying to see a narrative from another time in the context of its own time. If you don't, then it is impossible to see the characters as anything other than caricatures. You just can't understand them or their stories. I think they and their stories are worth knowing and taking seriously on their own terms.
And
Nerroth, rape is still rape only if it's rape. The piece by Tyler wraps the events in a number of important subtleties. In some sense, a lot of marriage in the past was not much different from rape. Understanding the psychology of women in such a harrowing society is one of the interesting things about the
Genji.
And
WanderingKnight, the great ancient Greeks were, in my opinion, right enough for their time. Sure that society was ridiculously misogynistic, but not moreso than too many others, even today. It would be hard to go through history and find many societies that weren't. I was just trying to say that moral standards vary from society to society, and most can make a case for saying they are following the rule of not doing to others what they wouldn't want done to them, which is the only universal standard of morality I can think of.
Genji's society was as patriarchal as any other, but women in those days created Japanese literature. Men all wrote serious prose and poetry in Chinese, the way people in medieval Europe wrote in Latin. Almost all of that stuff is forgotten, but the diaries in Japanese of several women, and this novel, still remain among the greatest classics of Japanese literature. As do the short poems written in Japanese by men and women as a sort of social exchange, in poetry contests, or like text messages after a date.
In any case, morality is important, but we can't see every story as some kind of sermon, and reject all stories that contain events of which we would disapprove if they happened in our own time. I imagine our ideas will seem quaint or brutal in a few centuries from now, too.
Apologies for any novel spoilers in previous posts. I will try to restrain myself.