This study acts as a response to questions surrounding the position of women in the Heian court as encountered by earlier scholars. To that end this study examines the construction of the Heian concept of femininity with regard to both women of the lady-waiting and elite classes, as illustrated in diaries and court records. The findings indicate that the aesthetic of womanhood oftentimes related to an ideal of female passivity in romantic relations with men and of selflessness in involvement in major court decisions. This aesthetic was physically manifested in the attention given to the sequestration of women of high rank. However, evidence suggests that this aesthetic did not mean that women were not influential, in part because this aesthetic was an ideal that did not necessarily reflect reality.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses.

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abstract: Japanese literature of the Heian Era (794-1185) abounds with references to musical instruments and episodes of performance. This thesis provides some insight into that music by translating sections of the "Wakana II" (Spring Shoots II) chapter of the early 11th-century novel Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji). It explains the musical references and shows how, in the context of the novel, musical performance, musical teaching, and interpersonal relationships were inextricably intertwined. Detailed appendices provide background on traditional Japanese musical instruments, musical theory, and related subjects. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Asian Languages and Civilizations 2013

O presente trabalho propõe uma análise centrada em sete narrativas de cunho secular da seção japonesa contidas na coletânea de narrativas setsuwa denominada Konjaku Monogatarishû do século XIII. As narrativas serão traduzidas para o vernáculo e analisadas pelo viés do corpo grotesco em suas mais diferentes manifestações, assim como explicitado por Bakhtin (2013) e pelo viés do estranhamento tal qual formulado por Wolfgang Kayser (1986). Devido ao fato de as narrativas setsuwa possuírem padrões contrastantes da estética literária e temas vigentes na era Heian, identificou-se a importância do estudo das mesmas pelo viés do grotesco como uma leitura de rompimento com o ideal estético literário, pautando-se pela descrição explícita dos fatos, personagens e ações cotidianas. / The present work aims to analyses seven Japanese secular setsuwa tales included on Konjaku Monogatarishû compilation. The narratives will be translated to nowadays language and analyzed by many points fo view, as studied by grotesque body and others manifestations on Mikhail Bakhtin (2013) theory and by the theory of strangeness by Kayser (1986). Due to the fact that setsuwa tales has different patterns of literary aesthetics and themes in Heian period, the importance of this study by the grotesque as a rupture on literary aesthetics was identified also, because of the approximated description of the facts, figures and the daily actions.

O presente trabalho propõe uma análise centrada em sete narrativas de cunho secular da seção japonesa contidas na coletânea de narrativas setsuwa denominada Konjaku Monogatarishû do século XIII. As narrativas serão traduzidas para o vernáculo e analisadas pelo viés do corpo grotesco em suas mais diferentes manifestações, assim como explicitado por Bakhtin (2013) e pelo viés do estranhamento tal qual formulado por Wolfgang Kayser (1986). Devido ao fato de as narrativas setsuwa possuírem padrões contrastantes da estética literária e temas vigentes na era Heian, identificou-se a importância do estudo das mesmas pelo viés do grotesco como uma leitura de rompimento com o ideal estético literário, pautando-se pela descrição explícita dos fatos, personagens e ações cotidianas. / The present work aims to analyses seven Japanese secular setsuwa tales included on Konjaku Monogatarishû compilation. The narratives will be translated to nowadays language and analyzed by many points fo view, as studied by grotesque body and others manifestations on Mikhail Bakhtin (2013) theory and by the theory of strangeness by Kayser (1986). Due to the fact that setsuwa tales has different patterns of literary aesthetics and themes in Heian period, the importance of this study by the grotesque as a rupture on literary aesthetics was identified also, because of the approximated description of the facts, figures and the daily actions.

The Go-Tsuchimikado Shinkan-bon ~ Izumi Shikibu Shū is a 15th century manuscript of 150 poems by the 10th/11th century poet, Izumi Shikibu. This thesis includes translations for all 150 poems with detailed translation notes and an examination of the arrangement of the poems. It seems likely that the Shinkan-bon would have been organized in a sequence that links poems together in such a way as to create a larger poetical work for the collection as a whole. Sequences are developed through a natural progression of temporal and spatial elements in the poems, as well as connections through mood, theme, imagery, associations, and the repetition of words. This method of anthology arrangement had been common in Japanese literature for hundreds of years prior to the assumed date of creation for the Shinkan-bon in the early 13th century. Three sections of the Shinkan-bon were examined in this thesis to determine if there was continuity between the poems. The first section is made up of the first twenty-five seasonal poems, running from spring to winter. This section does show continuity between some of the poems but does not contain an over-all sequence. The second section is made up of fifteen poems in the middle of the collection and the third section is made up of the final ten poems in the Shinkan-bon. There is no sequencing in the second and third sections, and thus it can be determined that the Shinkan-bon collection has no sequential significance to its order, and that the poems are organized by another method.

O budismo, como o xintoísmo, é um dos alicerces religiosos da sociedade japonesa. Sua grande propagação no Japão dependeu muito da importação e enorme produção de imagens budistas que não se restringem apenas a representações do buda histórico. Por aproximadamente treze séculos, o estilo das estátuas búdicas passou por transformações que buscavam um estilo próprio japonês, atingindo o seu auge no período Heian (794~1185). Este trabalho é uma apresentação dessas transformações estilísticas e segue uma metodologia que visa a cercar o objeto \"escultura budista japonesa\" em todos os seus ângulos, a saber, abrangendo templos, técnicas e materiais, sua relação com a história do Japão, as doutrinas budista e xintoísta e a categoria das imagens. / Buddhism is one of the religious pillars of Japanese society together with Shintoism. The large Buddhist propagation on Japan depended very much on the importation and the big production of Buddhist statues which were not only representations of the historic Buddha. For about thirteen centuries, the statues style suffered changes that searched for a proper Japanese style and attained its peak on Heian period. This work is a presentation of those stylistics changes and follows a methodology that intends to approach the object \"Japanese Buddhist sculpture\" from all angles, which is to say, it comprehends temples, techniques and raw materials, its relation with Japanese history, Buddhist and Shintoist preachings and image categories.

Considerada ainda na antiguidade como a \"ancestral de todas as narrativas monogatari\", Taketori monogatari é a obra mais antiga de seu gênero. Escrita provavelmente entre os séculos IX e X, a narrativa conta a trajetória da personagem Kaguyahime, desde que foi encontrada pelo personagem que dá título à obra até a ocasião em que é levada de volta para o mundo de onde veio. Os acontecimentos que se desenrolam a partir da corte amorosa empreendida por cinco pretendentes que desejam se casar com ela ocupam considerável espaço na narrativa. Esse arco é considerado pelos estudiosos japoneses como exclusivo de Taketori monogatari, não constando em nenhum outro registro anterior da lenda. A partir desta hipótese e amparados pelo trabalho de Roland Barthes, propusemos uma reflexão sobre a construção do discurso pretensamente amoroso nessa parte em que se acredita vislumbrar o ineditismo da obra. / Regarded as \"the ancestor of all monogatari narratives\" since Classical Japan, Taketori monogatari is the most ancient piece of work in monogatari genre. Written probably between the 9th and 10th centuries, the narrative tells the story of Kaguyahime, from the moment she was found by the character whose name is in the title of the narrative until she is taken back to her homeland. The episodes starred by the five noble men who wish to marry her occupy the most of the narrative and are thought, by the Japanese scholars, to be exclusively Taketori monogatari author\'s creation. Considering the Japanese scholars\' view and supported by Roland Barthes\'s treatise on amorous discourse, we aimed to expose the way the discourse spoken by Kaguyahime and her suitors is built in those supposedly romantic episodes.

Considerada ainda na antiguidade como a \"ancestral de todas as narrativas monogatari\", Taketori monogatari é a obra mais antiga de seu gênero. Escrita provavelmente entre os séculos IX e X, a narrativa conta a trajetória da personagem Kaguyahime, desde que foi encontrada pelo personagem que dá título à obra até a ocasião em que é levada de volta para o mundo de onde veio. Os acontecimentos que se desenrolam a partir da corte amorosa empreendida por cinco pretendentes que desejam se casar com ela ocupam considerável espaço na narrativa. Esse arco é considerado pelos estudiosos japoneses como exclusivo de Taketori monogatari, não constando em nenhum outro registro anterior da lenda. A partir desta hipótese e amparados pelo trabalho de Roland Barthes, propusemos uma reflexão sobre a construção do discurso pretensamente amoroso nessa parte em que se acredita vislumbrar o ineditismo da obra. / Regarded as \"the ancestor of all monogatari narratives\" since Classical Japan, Taketori monogatari is the most ancient piece of work in monogatari genre. Written probably between the 9th and 10th centuries, the narrative tells the story of Kaguyahime, from the moment she was found by the character whose name is in the title of the narrative until she is taken back to her homeland. The episodes starred by the five noble men who wish to marry her occupy the most of the narrative and are thought, by the Japanese scholars, to be exclusively Taketori monogatari author\'s creation. Considering the Japanese scholars\' view and supported by Roland Barthes\'s treatise on amorous discourse, we aimed to expose the way the discourse spoken by Kaguyahime and her suitors is built in those supposedly romantic episodes.