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Kagerō Nikki

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Kagerō Nikki (蜻蛉日記, The Mayfly Diary) is a classical piece of Japanese literature from the Heian period that falls under the genre of nikki bungaku, or diary literature. Written around 974, the author of Kagerō Nikki is a woman who is only known by the title of Mother of Michitsuna. Using a combination of waka poetry and prose, she conveys the life of a court woman during the Heian period.

Kagerō Nikki is often called The Gossamer Years in English, which is the title given to the first English translation by Edward Seidensticker.

Origin

During the Heian Period, prominent families would often collect and compile their poetry in a family poetry collection, or kashū. It is likely that Fujiwara no Kaneie, her husband, asked Mother of Michitsuna to create such a collection for their family. However, because she decided to add her own experiences along with the poetry that she and Kaneie exchanged, Kagerō Nikki emerged.[1] From the outset, Mother of Michitsuna reveals her concerns by exploring the reality of her condition.

Story

Kagerō Nikki focuses on the development of Mother of Michitsuna's relationship with Kaneie and how these experiences affect her. The diary entries detail events of particular emotional significance, such as when Kaneie visits other women while she stays at home taking care of their son. Mother of Michitsuna's deep feelings for Kaneie are apparent in the way her words take on a tone of inner anguish as Kaneie's visits dwindle.

In an attempt to find solace, Mother of Michitsuna makes various pilgrimages to temples and mountains of religious importance. She often desires to become a nun, but the effect that act would have on her son’s future plagues her mind, and prevents her from ever taking Buddhist vows.

Towards the end of the diary, she finally reconciles herself to her separation with Kaneie and devotes herself to caring for her son and adopted daughter.

Style

Kagerō Nikki is a diary, but it is "written in a mixture of styles; the first half characterized more by memoir, the latter half by day-to-day entry."[2] Her entries relate certain events that held emotions too strong to keep within her. The amount of time that passes between these events sometimes was weeks or months, quite different from a regular diary.

Mother of Michitsuna is credited for creating "a new form of self-expression and psychological exploration that expanded the potential of kana prose writing and influenced subsequent woman's writing, including the Tale of Genji."[1] She achieves this raw, intimate expression by exploiting the first person point of view allowed by the diary genre.

Another characteristic of her style is the unique way she labels people in her life. For example, in one entry she writes "that 'splendid' personage of Machi Alley" when referring to the woman with whom Kaneie is having an affair. The sarcastic tone reflects the author’s attitude towards the person in question: "This method of labeling people shows how very egocentric she was in her dealings with others, defining them solely in relationship to herself."[2]

Marriage Customs

The Kagerō Nikki is the first piece of literature wherein Heian relations and customs are clearly drawn out.[3] The marriage customs in Japan at the time revolved around the idea of "duolocal residence", in which the husband lived in a separate house while the wife stayed at her parents’ residence.[3] Although there was not a structured procedure for divorce, the stoppage of visits signaled the end of a relationship. In expressing her frustration with this system, Mother of Michitsuna lends valuable insight into the life of married couples during the Heian period.

Author

Life

Born in 935 as the daughter of provincial governor Fujiwara no Tomoyasu, Mother of Michitsuna belonged to a low- to mid-level aristocratic class. In 954, at the age of nineteen, she married Fujiwara no Kaneie (929-990), who had recently attained the position of captain of the Right Guards. Kaneie would later become the minister of the right and regent after his daughter gave birth to Emperor En'yū's son.[4] Although Kaneie continued to climb the social hierarchy, Mother of Michitsuna’s position as a secondary wife and mother of only one child left her in an unstable social position.[1] Her tenuous relations with Kaneie drove her to seek to take the tonsure, but her son and family convinced her remain in the secular world. She later adopted the daughter Kaneie had through an affair. Not long after, Mother of Michitsuna's sixteen year-long marriage came to an end. According to her diary, Mother of Michitsuna devoted her life to her children, and Michitsuna later was able to attain the position of major counselor.[1]

Literary Significance

Mother of Michitsuna was known for her skill in waka, or classical thirty-one syllable poetry. That her poetry was included in Fujiwara no Teika's One Hundred Poets, One Hundred Poems (c. 1235) and in the third imperial waka anthology Shūi Wakashū, is testimony to her reputation. Perhaps the Mother of Michitsuna’s most famous accomplishment, however, is her Kagerō Nikki.

Legacy

In a society where Japanese kana writing was considered a woman's realm inferior to the Chinese writing of educated men, Heian women produced what are today known as some of the most enduring and classical works in Japanese literature. Mother of Michitsuna, though speculating her work to be as ephemeral as "the diary of a mayfly or the shimmering heat on a summer's day," played a crucial role in this legacy.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Shirane
  2. ^ a b Watanabe and Bowring
  3. ^ a b McCullough, 1967
  4. ^ Kodansha>

References

  • Shirane, Haruo, ed. Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.
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