Erick DuPree

Becoming Murasaki Erick DuPree

Sex. Religion. Possession. Manipulation. Power. Women are navigating their way through a complex chess game of court politics and alliances during the mid-Heian era, one where the wrong color combination of an Autumn kimono or questionable word choice in a poem can spell disastrous ruin. Becoming Murasaki is an in-depth analysis of the subtle ways women specifically used religion in the Heian era to strengthen positions of power and solidify their sexual autonomy. Murasaki Shikibu's diary and selections from The Tale of Genji, offer composites into how these women networked their sexual agency in a time that saw the flourish of their genius under the harsh and profoundly problematic cloister of court life. Shikibu's work is uniquely situated from her contemporaries in that her diary, The Murasaki Shikibu nikki details the day to day with a critical eye, alongside the fantastical world of her 'shining prince' in The Genji. Both writings paradoxically lay the foundation for a shifting landscape of status and power of women, ritual, taboos, social expectations, and sexual dynamics that makes the religious landscape in Shikibu's work worth examining. Discover how Buddhism factors into woman's sexual autonomy, the influence of Confucianism on the court language and why it oppresses and liberates, and how Shintoism gives birth to a phenomenon that changes everything. Becoming Murasaki looks into the birthing of a prince, the chronicling of the world's first novel, The Tale of Genji, and the shadow side of Murasaki Shikibu to uncover the complex woman who is celebrated as much today as she was over a millennia ago.