Human Intelligence Collectors: Sei Shōnagon
Jan 20, 2025
Naomi Fukumori joins to illuminate Sei Shōnagon, a lady-in-waiting and literary pioneer from Japan's Heian period. They delve into the structure and charm of The Pillow Book, a mix of lists, essays, and diary entries rich with vivid observations. The conversation highlights how Shōnagon's keen eye for detail captured the beauty and absurdity of life amidst political turmoil. Reflecting on wabi-sabi and ephemeral beauty, they discuss her enduring influence on Japanese aesthetics.
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A New Form: The Miscellany
- Sei Shōnagon invented a non-linear miscellany combining lists, essays and diary fragments into a lasting literary form.
- Naomi Alderman and Naomi Fukumori show the Pillow Book's structure lets readers open it anywhere and find vivid moments.
The Power Of Precise Observation
- Sei Shōnagon had an extraordinary eye for small, telling details and rendered them in economical, vivid strokes.
- Her portraits of ox handlers and page boys reveal an aesthetic focus that shaped later Japanese taste.
Taste As Authority
- Seishōnagon valued correctness and refined aesthetics, often sounding judgmental and exacting about taste.
- Alderman argues that this fastidiousness makes readers see beauty through her perspective and agree with her judgments.
