The Story of Murasaki Shikibu as the Author of the First Novel

 

The Story of Murasaki Shikibu as the Author of the First Novel - Most people fill their spare time by reading novels because novels can provide entertainment and tranquillity for readers. Its attractive packaging can take the reader into the storyline created by the author. In works of fiction, novels are known as works of fiction (imaginative). And a novel in its creative process or understanding is a work of fiction which it tells a lot of problems (conflict stories) for each character.

A novel is a form of literature that is very popular in the world. Several genres of novels are in great demand by the audience, such as the genres of romance, horror, mystery, humour, science, fiction, adventure, and history. Do any of us know who the author of the world's first novel was? According to my search in various sources, it turns out that the world's first novel was written by a woman from Japan. His name is Murasaki Shikibu.

But this name is a pen name, meaning it is not the real name of the author. Until now no one can confirm the real name of the woman. Murasaki was born around the year 973. He was born into a fairly well-known family in Japan because he was born from the descendants of the first Regent in Fujiwara. Some literature mentions that Murasaki is a woman who is known for her intelligence. Murasaki married in 998 and has one daughter.

How Murasaki Shikibu's Story as the Author of the First Novel?

Known as a woman with an intelligent mind and the ability to write, because of that she was asked to be a lady in the Heian Palace. During her time as a lady-in-waiting at the palace, Murasaki managed to finish her first novel, entitled "Genji Monogatari," which in English means "The Tales of Genji," and in Indonesian, it means "The Tale of Genji". This novel contains 54 chapters with 1,000 pages.

Some experts think that this novel was written before he worked at the Palace, and some estimate that this novel was written before his husband died, until now no one knows how true it is. In his poetry, writing is like breathing in him. So, it is not surprising that he has other writings besides novels, such as diaries and poetry. This novel has a grammar that is quite complicated in its delivery, even the Japanese themselves still have difficulty understanding it.

And keep in mind, at that time, literary works produced were not allowed to include names for characters in the story, only names or titles were allowed. Like, princes, princesses, kings, queens, and so on. This is what makes linguists have to study the grammar used in the novel.

As can be guessed from the title, this novel tells the story of Prince Genji, where this novel tells the story of an imperial palace of 800 waka. This novel began to be published in 1001, but in that year the writing process was considered unfinished. That is the story of Murasaki Shikibu as the author of the first novel.

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