Student Question
What are examples of the uncanny in The Tale of Genji?
Quick answer:
The possession of Genji's first wife, Aoi no Ue, by spirits (mono no ke) is arguably an example of the uncanny in The Tale of Genji. In his essay on the concept of the "uncanny," Freud defines the unheimlich as something that is familiar but has been alienated from our conscious awareness. For example, a dream you can't remember upon awakening may be uncanny because it feels familiar even though you can't consciously access its meaning or message. To illustrate this idea further, Freud tells a story about a man who drew a vulture for his younger brother. The brother then kills himself and the man is haunted by feelings that he somehow knew his brother would take his own life.
The possession of Genji's first wife, Aoi no Ue, by spirits (mono no ke) is arguably an example of the uncanny in The Tale of Genji.
Freud defines the unheimlich, or "uncanny," as the revelation of things that are so private or concealed that they're even hidden from ourselves. He sees the uncanny as the moment that the unfamiliar thing we've hidden enters our consciousness and we recognize it as familiar, but we don't yet accept it as familiar. It is both "us" and "not-us."
In The Tale of Genji , Aoi and Genji marry when she is sixteen and he's only twelve. At first, Aoi is distant toward Genji because of their age difference; later, she keeps her distance because she's hurt by his various affairs. Because of her position in the court and in society, however, Aoi can't do anything about her feelings of hurt...
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and betrayal.
While pregnant with Genji's child, Aoi begins experiencing episodes of spirit possession. The court whispers that they were sent by one of Genji's lovers, either Lady Rokujo or Lady Nijo.
The spirits themselves don't reveal where they're from. Yet Lady Rokujo, overwhelmed by jealousy, begins having dreams of entering Aoi's bedchamber and strangling her. Concerned that her spirit is leaving her body and wandering into Aoi's chambers, Rokujo throws herself into preparations for her daughter's upcoming investiture as a priestess.
Meanwhile, Genji goes to see Aoi, who is having labor pains even though her pregnancy isn't at full term. When Aoi speaks to him, Genji realizes that she's speaking in Rokujo's voice and turns of phrase, which disturbs him. When the baby is born, the women who attend Aoi describe a phenomenon they can't explain: her robes smell exactly like the incense used in the ceremonies for investiture of a new priestess.
There are at least two ways to see this scene as uncanny. The first is to read it at face value: Lady Rokujo is so obsessed with jealousy over not being Genji's actual wife that her spirit possesses Aoi's body, even though she doesn't intend it to. Here, both Rokujo's and Aoi's jealousy becomes the thing hidden even from themselves, which yet becomes apparent in a way that both women can sense but neither woman can really accept as her own action or choice.
A second option is to read the scene not as Rokujo and Aoi being jealous of one another, but as both of them seeking to revenge themselves on Genji for dividing his love between them. In this reading, the uncanny element is the way in which Rokujo and Aoi seem to invade one another's consciousness—Aoi appears in Rokujo's dreams, and Rokujo appears to speak through Aoi. Both women, forced into a rivalry relationship by Genji and their respective positions at court, begin to merge; both experience themselves as both "self" and "other."
Several other scenes also seem to situate Genji's relationships as uncanny, like when Genji is attracted to Yuugao because he finds her mysterious yet also familiar. Later, Kaoru's quest to understand Genji's attitude toward him also embraces the uncanny, as Kaoru struggles with his sense of duty and devotion, aware that he is Genji's son but wishing to hold that idea at arm's length.
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