Joseph Mark Donaldson and Dr. George Perkins, Asian and Near Eastern Language
Genji is a character is the ancient Japanese novel, The Tale of Genji. The setting of the novel is the Heian court of ancient Japan. Genji is the son of the emperor’s favorite wife. Although Genji is most favored among the emperor’s sons, and possesses remarkable qualities, his mother was of relatively low rank and Genji is at a young age deprived of his opportunity to become emperor. This happens early in the novel but the story continues the tale of Genji’s life and even includes the lives of some of his descendents.
Most poignant to many readers and critics is Genji’s relationships with women. Many readers are shocked at the coercive nature of Genji’s relationships. Recently, increased commentary from scholars, readers, and translators of the text has argued whether or not Genji’s relationships can justifiably be categorized as rape. Defenders of Genji point out Genji’s cultural context. Accusers go so far as to say that the novel is not even about Genji but is about the women he uses and abuses.
In the text of The Tale of Genji there ample clues into Genji’s psychological motivations. Upon comparing these motivations with studies on rapists and their motivations for power and control, one can substantially diagnose Genji as a rapist from a psychological perspective. Additionally, there is evidence in the text which suggests that even within Genji’s own cultural context, his coercive courtship was less than ideal.
My purpose in this project was to study the controversial criticisms on the subject of Genji’s relationships with women, and to substantially support my own hypothesis the Genji’s relationships with women are rape according to a modern day psychological perspective as well as within his own cultural context. I have written a well argued paper to the satisfaction of my faculty mentor and am interested in posting my paper on the internet in order to encourage commentary from other students and critics.
Overall, the project was a valuable learning experience for me and I appreciate Prof. Perkins for his encouragement and criticisms. In addition to gaining experience in contributing me my insights into a scholarly field I feel that I was edified personally by the insights my research encouraged me to find. Although as a medical student I am not pursuing Japanese Literature in post-graduate study, this project has helped me retain and remember my love for the humanities.