The tale of Genji: a novel in six parts / by Lady Murasaki ; translated from the Japanese byArthur Waley ; with a new foreword by Dennis Washburn.The impact of Waley’s translation is in part a reflection of the canonical statusof The Tale of Genji , which has occupied a central position in Japan’s culturalhistory over the past millennium. Like other classics of world literature, itpossesses a depth and complexity capable of sustaining multipleinterpretations. Murasaki Shikibu’s narrative has served as a source work forcountless other artists. It has also inspired readers from different eras andcultures, who have discovered in its fictional representation of courtly Heiansociety ethical concerns and aesthetic values that resonate with their ownunderstanding of the meaning and significance of human experience.Over the centuries The Tale of Genji has been interpreted variously as anidealization of the beauty of evanescence, as a romance centered on the rolesexual relationships played in political intrigue at the court, or as a tale thatexemplifies the truth of fundamental Buddhist concepts such as the mutabilityof life and the need to cultivate detachment from the world. By the eighteenthcentury the work’s importance as a key cultural text was widely accepted, andNativist (kokugaku) scholars such as Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801) pursuedsophisticated linguistic research that further promoted the idea that MurasakiShikibu’s literary art exhibited the essence of Japanese ethics and identity. Thecanonical status conferred on The Tale of Genji took on even greatersignificance during the latter half of the nineteenth century when Japan, havingopened up to the Western world and embarked on the project of remakingitself as a modern imperial power in Asia, felt compelled to claim a special placein the geopolitical order it was reengaging.…