Gossamer Years

Gossamer Years is a remarkably frank diary written by an unnamed noblewoman in Tenth-century Japan--the same period as Murasaki Shikibu's celebrated Tale of Genji. In her diary, the author describes her tempestuous and unhappy marriage and growing indignation at the many rival wives and mistresses taken by her husband, as was commonplace at the time. Too impetuous to play the role of a subsidiary wife, the author protests the marriage system in one of Japanese literature's earliest portrayals of the difficulties faced by women in a male-dominated society.


10世紀後半に藤原道綱母によって綴られた日本最古の女流日記。『枕草子』や『源氏物語』に先立ち、夫の女性関係に対して募る嫉妬や嘆き、生き難さを綴った『蜻蛉日記』は、平安時代における貴族の結婚生活や女性の生き方を伝えた先駆的な作品です。『蜻蛉日記』の重要性を文学的、歴史的側面から解説するデニス・ウォッシュバーンの新しい序文、そして作者の世界観が伝わる美しいイラストも必見です。訳はエドワード・サイデンステッカー。