It seems an odd thing to think about, but I'd recently heard a comment about the world's first novel. If you'd asked me prior to hearing this comment, I'd have replied it was Beowulf or Canterbury Tales, mainly because these were items of Western Literature and it's what we read about in school. So you tend to think about what is familiar. I suppose you could also point to The Odyssey or The Iliad, though these are technically 'histories' of a sort, and are also classified (like Beowulf) as epic poems. Given this, the comment struck me as intriguing. Because not only was the first novel not from Western culture, but it also started an entire genre unto itself - the Romance Novel.
The Tale of Genji was written sometime in the 1000's, and was written by a woman, Murasaki Shikibu. This may not be her real name, as daughters' names were rarely recorded, and as a noblewoman, her name was more a title and descriptor of status. Shikibu means "Bureau of Ceremonial" - a post held by her father, and Murasaki is the name of the heroine in the novel. While reading and writing, for a woman of status, was not rare in Japanese culture, what Shibiku accomplished elevated the form, and introduced new aspects to writing as an art. She was creative, unique, and thoughtful. As such, she has been held in high esteem within Japanese culture.
Murasaki was known to be a high-placed female at the Imperial Court of Japan, a noblewoman from the powerful Fujiwara family. She was familiar with court intrigue, and a lady-in-waiting. There are more unknowns than knowns regarding her. However, there is some information about the nature of her upbringing and some details of her life which she shared in a diary. It is known that she wrote poetry and enjoyed romantic tales. She was married to an active nobleman who had several wives, and her poetry seems to indicate she resented his gregarious behavior. However, upon his death she was inspired to write The Tale of Genji, most likely due to her loneliness. It is also possible that she was commissioned to write it.
The story is believed to have outlined some of her own experiences in court and possibly described other courtiers she was familiar with. Women of high status at the court were often isolated, and marriages were usually designed to gain power and influence. The loss of her husband led Murasaki to engage in some introspection and seems to have led to a self-imposed seclusion, though she was brought back to the court as a lady-in-waiting later in life, most likely due to the story and its popularity.
Genji is intriguing on several levels. Like Machiavelli's The Prince, Murasaki provides insight into the nature of power politics of the time, and palace intrigue. However, she did so within the context of a life story of Genji, while interweaving several other characters who are well-developed (much like a modern novel). The plot, such as it is, is a life story of love and loss, which means the story is sometimes classified as a romance novel (though Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded of 1740 is considered the first true romance novel). No doubt influenced by the romantic poems she enjoyed reading, Murasaki stuck to what she was familiar with.
In several ways, The Tale of Genji fulfills a role often left to court historians in the West. Most stories and histories we are familiar with, by necessity, were often the result of writing done by learned men at monasteries or a king's court - usually at the behest of a bishop, or the king himself. In Japan, tales of this sort were considered beneath male interest, and were primarily the result of idle time among the wealthy and powerful women, Murasaki seems to have tapped into a cultural vein and gained significant notoriety as due to her skill.
