Lectures

Often referred to as the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, written by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, inspired art works of tremendous variety throughout Japanese history. The exhibition at The Met traces the tale’s cultural legacy over one thousand years, bringing together more than 120 objects from collections in Japan and the United States. In this talk, Melissa McCormick presents highlights from the exhibition and discusses the show’s central themes, which include the female authorship of The Tale of Genji, the work’s relationship to Buddhism, and the political uses of Genji imagery from the medieval to the modern era.