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The Composition of the Movement of Persons in ‘Genji Monogatari Emaki’ (The Illustrated Handscroll of The Tale of Genji) - With a Focus on “Yomogihu” and “Sekiya” -

  • 日本硏究
  • 2013, (34), pp.149-167
  • Publisher : The Center for Japanese Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Japanese Language and Literature
  • Published : February 20, 2013

KIM Soomi 1

1고려대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

With most of the drawings in ‘Genji Monogatari Emaki’ depicting human figures inside a building structure, there are only two drawings that show movements of human figures: the “Yomogihu” and “Sekiya” drawings. As for the previous studies, since ‘Genji Monogatari Emaki’ had been prescribed as a segment-type emaki that portrays “a stationary world that doesn't entail the deployment of time in principle,” it has almost never been the subject of discussions in regard to movements of human figures. If so, then, in ‘Genji Monogatari Emaki’ that portrays a stationary world in principle, in what composition do the “Yomogihu” and “Sekiya” drawings depict movements of human figures? Under the awareness of such issues, by comparatively analyzing the main contents of Monogatari (the name of genre) and Gotobagaki, this paper attempted to contemplate the ways in which the contents are projected in the drawings of emaki (The Illustrated Handscroll). As a result, confirmed was the fact that the deployment of time, --as 右, right = the past; and as 左, left = the future --which were shown in the conventional continuous-type emaki, were being applied to the movements of human figures in the “Yomogihu” and “Sekiya”drawings. As shown, it would seem that, in the composition and the movement directions of human figures with respect to the drawings of ‘Genji Monogatari Emaki,’ a logic unique to emaki concerning time is in play and the positioning of the movements of human figures is being done in accordance with the artist’s interpretation of the contents of Monogatari.

Citation status

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.