The First Novel In The World.

The world's first novel written by a woman. She is Murasaki Shikibu. She was born in the year 978. She was one of a group of female writers who were members of Heian court society. In the year 1007 she wrote the world's first novel called "The Tale of Genji". This novel tells the story of a prince looking for love and wisdom.

The Tale Of Genji

The first partial translation of Genji Monogatari into English was by Suematsu Kencho, published in 1882. Arthur Waley published a six-volume translation of all but one chapter, with the first volume published in 1921 and the last in 1933. In 1976, Edward Seidensticker published the first complete translation into English, made using a self-consciously "stricter" approach with regards to content if not form. The most recent English translation was published in 2001 by Royall Tyler and aims at fidelity in content and form to the original text. In its English translation it covers 54 chapters over 1000 pages of text.

Because it was written to entertain the Japanese court of the eleventh century, the work presents many difficulties to modern readers. First and foremost, Murasaki's language, Heian Period court Japanese, was highly inflected and had very complex grammar. Another problem is that naming people was considered rude in Heian court society, so none of the characters are named within the work; instead, the narrator refers to men often by their rank or their station in life, and to women often by the color of their clothing, or by the words used at a meeting, or by the rank of a prominent male relative. This results in different appellations for the same character depending on the chapter.

Another aspect of the language is the importance of using poetry in conversations. Modifying or rephrasing a classic poem according to the current situation was expected behavior in Heian court life, and often served to communicate thinly veiled allusions. The poems in the Genji are often in the classic Japanese tanka form. Many of the poems were well known to the intended audience, so usually only the first few lines are given and the reader is supposed to complete the thought themselves.

However, it also introduces confusion: there are a number of homophones (words with the same pronunciation but different meanings), and for modern readers, context is not always sufficient to determine which meaning was intended. Outside of vocabulary related to politics and Buddhism, the Genji contains remarkably few Chinese loan words. This has the effect of giving the story a very even, smooth flow. However, it also introduces confusion: there are a number of homophones (words with the same pronunciation but different meanings), and for modern readers, context is not always sufficient to determine which meaning was intended.