Lover and Nun
Lover and Nun
Embodying the Heroine in Fitful Slumbers
This chapter takes up one of Abutsu's best-known works, her diary Fitful Slumbers. The diary demonstrates her vast knowledge of The Tale of Genji, a talent that enables her to position herself as pining heroine in the mode of the Genji's Ukifune. Her portrayal suggests ways in which medieval women were casting themselves as heroines in their autobiographical writings by borrowing from classical tales. The figure of Abutsu in Fitful Slumbers is wracked by indecision over whether to become a nun or return to court life, an ongoing theme that reveals how reclusion, tonsure, and ascetic practice were seen as paths for women of the Kamakura era and how these choices functioned within autobiographical narrative.
Keywords: Nun Abutsu, medieval Japan, medieval women, diary, autobiographical writings, The Tale of Genji
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