Murasaki Shikibu (redirected from Murasaki Sikibu)

Murasaki Shikibu (m'räsä`kē shē'kēb`), c.978–1031?, Japanese novelist, court figure at the height of the Heian period (795–1185). Known also as Lady Murasaki, she is celebrated as the author of the romantic novel Genji-Monogatari [tale of Genji], one of the first great works of fiction to be written in Japanese. It concerns the life of Prince Genji and his descendants and is a subtle and thorough delineation of a complex society.

Bibliography

See her diary translated by R. Bowring (1982); modern translations of Genji by E. G. Seidensticker (1978) and R. Tyler (2001).

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Murasaki Shikibu

(born c. 978, Kyoto, Japan) Japanese writer. Her real name is unknown, and the primary source of knowledge about her life is a diary she kept (1007–10). Her Tale of Genji (completed c. 1010) is a long and complex tale, concerned mostly with the loves of Prince Genji and the women in his life. Supremely sensitive to human emotions and the beauties of nature, it provides delightful glimpses of life at the court of the empress Joto mon'in, whom Murasaki served. It is generally considered the greatest work of Japanese literature and perhaps the world's first novel.

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Murasaki Shikibu

11th-century Japanese court lady, author of The Tale of Genji, perhaps the world's first novel