I once asked Mayuko and Minami (both in my fall 8 a.m. MWF Humanities class) if they had heard of Sei Shōnagon (清少納言). Of course they had! They had read her years ago in school. I only recently made acquaintance with SS through Meredith McKinney’s translation for Penguin.
Reading her renowned Pillow Book, I thought of Allen Ginsberg’s maxim, “If we don’t show anyone, we’re free to write anything”:
At times I am beside myself with exasperation at everything, and temporarily inclined to feel I’d simply be better off dead, or am longing to just go away somewhere, anywhere, then if I happen to come by some lovely white paper for everyday use and a good writing brush, or white decorated paper or Michinoku paper, I’m immensely cheered, and find myself thinking I might perhaps be able to go on living for a while longer after all. 212
I have written in this book things I have seen and thought, in the long idle hours spent at home, without even dreaming that others would see it. Fearing that some of my foolish remarks could well strike others as excessive and objectionable, I did my best to keep it secret, but despite all my intentions I’m afraid it has come to light. 255
Overall, I have chosen to write about the things that delight, or that people find impressive, including poems as well as things such as trees, plants, birds, insects and so forth, and for this reason people may criticize it for not living up to expectations and only going to prove the limits of my own sensibility. But after all, I merely wrote for my personal amusement things that I myself have thought and felt, and I never intended that it should be placed alongside other books and judged on a par with them. I’m utterly perplexed to hear that people who’ve read my work have said it makes them feel humble in the face of it. Well, there you are, you can judge just how unimpressive someone is if they dislike things that most people like, and praise things that others condemn. Anyway, it does upset me the people have seen these pages. 255-56
I mentioned to Mayuko and Minami that, since they are writing in notebooks à la Natalie Goldberg, they might use some of Sei Shōnagon’s own topics or let her preoccupations spark some of their own. Here are some I found promising:
- Mountains
- Markets
- Residences
- Dispiriting things
- Occasions that induce half-heartedness
- Things people despise
- Infuriating things
- Things that make you feel cheerful
- Birds
- Things that are distressing to see
- Things that are hard to say
- Moving things
- Deeply irritating things
- Miserable looking things
- Embracing things
- Awkward and pointless things
- Prayers and incantations
- Occasions when the time drags by
- Worthless things
- Things that are truly splendid
- Alarming-looking things
- Things that look fresh and pure
- Distasteful-looking things
- Endearingly lovely things
- Repulsive things
- People who look as though things are difficult for them
- People who seem enviable
- Things whose outcome you long to know
- Occasions for anxious waiting
- Things now useless that recall a glorious past
- Situations you have a feeling will turn out badly
- Sutra readings
- Awe-inspiring things
- Illnesses
- Things that prove disillusioning
- Elegantly intriguing things
- Beaches
- Woods
- Temples
- Sutras
- Chinese writings
- Games
- Spectacles
- Shrines
- Hills
- Things that fall
- Things that no one notices
- Horrid filthy things
- Terrifying things
- Things that give you confidence
- Being disliked by others
- Things that give you pleasure
- Venerable things
- Things of splendor and spectacle
- Things one must be wary of
- Things that are hard on the ear
- Insects
- Unsuitable things
- Villages
- Disturbing things
- Things that can’t be compared
- Rare things
- Things later regretted
- Things that create the appearance of deep emotion
- Things of elegant beauty
- Infuriating things
- Things it’s frustrating and embarrassing to witness
- Startling and disconcerting things
- Regrettable things
Let McKinney have the last word here and may you be intrigued enough by Sei Shōnagon to go and get your hands on this English translation: “She so engages us because she engages with us, we meet her eye across a thousand years. Perhaps it is the letter form that Sei Shōnagon’s overall style comes closest to—the random flow of anecdotes and opinions and thoughts, apparently dashed off extempore, veering impulsively from one comment to another, each new turn touched off by some random association or tangential connection, or perhaps by nothing at all. The bewildering shifts of tone and comment, the rich mix of the elegant and refined with the down-to-earth and acerbic, produce an effect of spontaneity and intimacy that draws the reader into a warm complicity, even when we find ourselves appalled at her frequent snobbery and occasional cruelty.”
