Letters by Midnight - Japan, 11th Century
In the elite world of 11th-century Japan, matters of the heart unfold alongside matters of state. Where the ability to compose poetry and display quick wit counted for more than brute strength and male dominance.
At the heart of the imperial court, two women (Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu) from rival factions kept diaries and penned extraordinary works of fiction making them the Japanese counterparts to William Shakespeare.
But whilst these women are diametrically opposed to one another, they may have shared an unspoken bond of queer identity. Hitherto dismissed by traditional historians, a new wave of research and revision is collapsing old beliefs and bringing to light an entirely new way of thinking about this world.
In this special episode, the brilliant Meg Hyland takes the reins, guiding us through a world of elegance and rivalry, artistry and ambition.
Notes on sources and links to Meg Hyland’s work:
The Diary of Lady Murasaki ed. and trans. by Richard Bowring (Penguin, 2006)
Murasaki Shikibu: Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs ed. and trans. Richard Bowring (Princeton University Press, 1982)
The Pillow Book ed. and trans. Meredith McKinney (Penguin, 2006)
The Tale of Genji ed. and trans. Royall Tyler (Penguin, 2003) (quote about wishing Genji was a woman)
Translations of Komashaku Kimi's Murasaki Shikibu's Message - Alexandra Loop's masters thesis and Tomiko Yoda's translation of one of the chapters.
Blog One Thousand Summers (for the translation of Murasaki's poem about the moon hidden behind clouds)
Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996) (Mostow criticizes Kamens for straightwashing Murasaki and other Heian poets)
The Buddhist Poetry of the Great Kamo Priestess by Edward Kamens (1990) (Kamens is the scholar Mostow criticizes, and the one who calls the moon image "unmistakably erotic" but says it was just friendship when women used it)
Lesbian Murasaki short comic I mention - here is the artist's instagram
Meg’s links:
Instagram: @womenof1000ad
Website: https://womenof1000ad.weebly.com/
Meg has a Redbubble shop with the Murasaki Shikibu design for sale (as well as other illustrations) for prints, stickers, magnets, etc.