My thesis, part 1

Since this blog is supposed to keep a record of our lives, it's only fair that I introduce the terrible preoccupation that rules my life: my senior thesis.

Nancy and I both major in East Asian Studies, which doesn't require seniors to write theses; nonetheless, out of a combination (you can decide in what proportions) of profound intellectual passion, hunger for glory, and foolhardiness, we are both writing theses this year.

It's only September, the year is young, and crushing reality hasn't set in yet, so I'm still wildly in love with my thesis. Let me introduce it to you! Here is a brief description I filed in a form yesterday:

I will investigate the use of classical Japanese literature in Enchi Fumiko's work and how it relates to what Nina Cornyetz calls her "literary configuration of femaleness." The center of the thesis will be a translation of selected essays about The Tale of Genji from Enchi's Genji monogatari shiken. Through her nonfiction writings about the Genji, I aim to clarify the role of classical Japanese literature within her oeuvre and specifically her work about gender. Finally, I will attempt to put Enchi's use of classical Japanese sources in the context of gender theory, 20th century Japanese feminism, and the similar literary efforts of her peers.

What makes this project so exciting to me, at least in part, is the way it pulls together so many of the disparate threads of my academic career here. Translation is, of course, my current passion and one of the things I want to work toward in my post-college life. I've written term papers on Enchi in both my sophomore and junior years. And Genji itself is my shameless obsession--I've taken two seminars on it, I learned classical Japanese to read it, I've hunted down art, plays, movies, and literature based on it, and I am basically an enormous dork about it.

This thesis lets me play in all of my sandboxes at once. Through one project, I can deal with gender theory, feminism, modern Japanese women's literature, classical Japanese women's literature, Genji studies--everything! It's all still in an embryonic stage, but I love it so much already!

(P.S.: In Rachel Opera Project News, Berg's Wozzeck is still totally eluding me, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin was pretty dull, and I've given in and am now listening to Britten's Billy Budd. Because I love Benjamin Britten. A lot. I have to say, the Opera Project is actually increasing my quality of life quite a bit.)