| Music and Art
|
[
Music and Art ] [ Main Menu ] |
|
|
|
10665 |
|
|
Date: March 16, 2020 at 17:20:33
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Japanese Calligrapher Keeps Ancient Kana Shodo Women's Script Alive |
URL: https://www.cnn.com/style/article/japan-kana-shodo-women-calligraphy-hnk-intl/index.html |
|
"As a teenager, Kaoru Akagawa couldn't read her
Japanese grandmother's letters, but she put it down
to her unclear handwriting.
Over a decade later, Kaoru realized her grandmother
hadn't been a poor calligrapher. She had been one of
the last generation to use a vanishing script shaped
predominantly by and for women.
Legend has it that kana script, which translates to
'woman's hand,' was invented in the ninth century by
Kukai, a priest and Sanskrit scholar, although some
historians say it's hard to tell who exactly founded
it and where, according to Akagawa.
What is apparent is that the kana characters -- which
form the basis of kana shodo -- represent the
different sounds that make up the Japanese language.
It was shaped mainly by noble women, although both
genders used it to write everything from
assassination commands and love letters to poetry and
diary entries.
With its undulating, cursive lines, kana shodo
appears to stream down whatever surface it graces.
According to Akagawa, women of the court competed
with one another to invent their own signature
designs for characters. Considered a language native
to Japan, it was seen as a vehicle through which
women could express themselves and document their
observations of the world.
Kana calligraphy was even used to write the 11th
century epic tale 'The Tale of Genji,' which is often
called the world's first novel as it was one of the
first major examples of long-form fiction, and was
authored by a woman -- lady-in-waiting Murasaki
Shikibu..."
The rest at link... Amazing... ;->
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[10667] [10670] [10671] [10672] |
|
10667 |
|
|
Date: March 18, 2020 at 20:23:48
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Japanese Calligrapher Keeps Ancient Kana Shodo Women's Script... |
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Genji |
|
have you ever read the tale of genji? it's been a while but i liked it...
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[10670] [10671] [10672] |
|
10670 |
|
|
Date: March 19, 2020 at 09:11:39
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Japanese Calligrapher Keeps Ancient Kana Shodo Women's Script... |
|
|
This article intrigued me to and, when I did, realized
how many translations from the kana exist... Kinda blew
my transformers, didn't pick one...lol... Do you
remember which one you read?
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[10671] [10672] |
|
10671 |
|
|
Date: March 19, 2020 at 10:23:34
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Japanese Calligrapher Keeps Ancient Kana Shodo Women's Script... |
|
|
|
i didn't realize there were so many translations...i read a review of it in the 80s i think and it piqued my interest so i got it and read it...so i'm guessing it was maybe the The Seidensticker Genji (1976) version...
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[10672] |
|
10672 |
|
|
Date: March 19, 2020 at 10:43:17
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Japanese Calligrapher Keeps Ancient Kana Shodo Women's Script... |
|
|
That seems to be the most popular one, will go
w/that... Got the sense that w/kana's subtleties &
complexities, you'd almost have to read all the
translations to have any real grasp...lol...
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
[
Music and Art ] [ Main Menu ] |