Feanor or Genji, Formenos or Akashi? I don't know

I've read an interview, some excerpts, and a(n earlier?) version of an essay from this book, but never had a chance to read the full thing till recently (thanks to @torontolibrary 😍 !). I really got a kick out of it, and I think anyone into Tale of Genji, Japanese/world lit, translation or fandom studies would find it intriguing as well. (Extra interesting if you're also into evolution of printing/publishing and media studies.)

Emmerich maps the not-so-clear-cut journey of how Genji Monogatari came to be considered a classic of world literature... by being replaced through translation/other incarnations or imaginings. I especially loved the chapters devoted to Inaka Genji, basically explaining how this masterful illustrated AU fanfic from the Edo period is what reignited interest in something practically no one was reading... before getting swallowed up in Genji's shadow again partly as a result of its own success. His analysis of the use of images and text in Inaka Genji is so well done and particularly fascinating to me as an artist/writer, and there are so many interesting side stories throughout, not to mention academic snark lol. Anecdotes and quotes of things like historical foreign commentators writing about Murasaki Shikibu's classic and being shocked that an elegant court lady wrote a bloody civil war epic (because they confused it with the Heike Monogatari) cracked me up.

Also I would like to eat some Genji Monogatari Millennial Anniversary Matcha Baumkuchen lmao.

Doll Without Emotion Fude de mannen, fountain pen ink, watercolour

Onna San no Miya (“Third Princess”) is Suzaku’s favourite daughter. Childish, naive, and surrounded by similarly airheaded, giggling servant girls, she’s of no particular personal interest to Genji. He agrees to marry her for two main reasons: 1) Suzaku, about to become a monk but worried sick about his daughter’s future, asks him to, since Genji is now the most respected and powerful guy around with a reputation for taking very good care of all the women under his watch; and 2) having an imperial princess as his wife would give him the awesome social standing he craves. (Although, dude, you destroyed your enemies, you’ve got your perfect woman Murasaki AND you’re already an Honorary Retired Emperor, what else do you want????) But after Genji actually meets the Third Princess in person, he’s like, crap. I messed up. This all severely unbalances the relationship he has with Murasaki, and everything whooshes downhill.

On my initial read, I took everything at face value - which in some respects I had to, or it would have been next to impossible for me to get through it and understand what’s going on. The Third Princess seemed obtuse, shallow, passive. However, in my rereadings, I kept finding more complexities. At times she speaks and acts with remarkable clarity and insight, and some of her poetic responses to Genji - and Kashiwagi - are actually quite sick burns. Yamato Waki does a really striking interpretation of this character in Asakiyumemishi, and I also read an interesting feminist paper about her, both of which really enhanced my appreciation of how she was written.

The title of this piece is based on various characters’ descriptions of her, and her own poem response to Genji after she becomes a nun.

Deity of the Sea Fude de mannen, ink, watercolour

The Akashi Novice, father of the Akashi lady, is a wealthy eccentric living in the relative middle of nowhere. At the same time, he instructs his daughter in everything needed to best the most elegant noblewoman at court, including being a master at the biwa instrument. Though it seems completely unlikely for her ever to be in such an environment, he keeps insisting to his wife that miraculous things are gonna happen for their daughter. And he ends up being right.

Basically this dude had a dream and then prayed SO HARD to the Sumiyoshi deity for 18 years straight that the deity was like “OK. I get it” and proceeds to A) kick Genji into political exile in Suma where Genji B) almost drowns and C) is nearly fried by lightning. All just so Genji would end up stuck in a place where the Akashi lady could get his attention and they would conceive the future Akashi Empress. And (almost) sooner than you can say “It’s a girl!” he gets pulled back to the imperial court in record time for shortest exile ever. Later in the story when the Akashi Novice’s granddaughter actually becomes Empress, he sends them a letter that reveals everything, and Genji is like “That guy is scary.”

Despite the apparently spectacular involvement of the gods, incorporation of the supernatural in the Tale of Genji is done in such a way that you can read the story as one full of spirits and fate - or simply take all such occurrences as coincidences, hallucinations, connections ascribed in hindsight, etc., interpreted through a particular cultural/Heian era lens. The experiences and interpretations are largely framed through the minds of the characters, and the approach makes both readings feel natural to me.

What Tale of Genji never says (which is understandable, since for its readers this was probably generally understood) is that the Sumiyoshi deity is actually a composite of three gods: Sokotsutsu no O, Nakatsutsu no O, and Uwatsutsu no O. They’re gods of the sea, sailing, war at sea (as opposed to Hachiman, deity of war on land), and also waka poetry. You can actually still visit the shrine mentioned in the novel... though the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine has moved quite a bit inland since the time of Murasaki’s writing.