MURASAKI SHIKIBU

A PRIMEIRA ROMANCISTA DO MUNDO E O SEU INESTIMÁVEL LEGADO PARA A HUMANIDADE

Abstract

This article briefly presents the Japanese writer Murasaki Shikibu, author of the world’s first literary novel, dating back to the 11th century. The book, Genji Monogatari, which she wrote, encompasses much of the customs of Heian society, in which women lived at the mercy of men. Therefore, in order to contextualize this period, which was contemporary to the aforementioned writer, the theories of Takenaga (1987) and Suzuki (2003) were used. At the same time, we conducted a biographical survey, although unfortunately scarce, of Murasaki Shikibu, followed by the plot of her Magnum Opus. We conclude this research by pointing out the difficulty in finding Brazilian academic studies about Murasaki Shikibu and Genji Monogatari, which points to the need to change this scenario of hegemonically Western and phallocentric Literature, partially permeable to what is Eastern, which, as a rule, is appreciated only (or more) for its exoticism, when it has so much to teach and offer us. It is important to spread the name and achievements of Shikibu, who has been revered in Japan for over ten centuries, not in vain.