Esen, Esin, “Plants in the Diary of Lady Murasaki Shikibu and their Use in the Text” The International Symposium European Discourses on Japan, Plants in Japanese Culture, İstanbul, 14-15 Eylül, 2012. Esen, Esin, “Murasaki Shikibu’nun Günlüğünde Bitkiler ve Metinde Yer alış Biçimleri” The International Symposium European Discourses on Japan, Plants in Japanese Culture, İstanbul, 14-15 Eylül, 2012. エ セ ン ・ エ シ ン , 「 紫 式 部 日 記 に お け る 植 物 」 The International Symposium European Discourses on Japan, Plants in Japanese Culture, Istanbul, September 14-15, 2012.

PLANTS IN THE DIARY OF LADY MURASAKI AND THEIR USE IN THE TEXT Esin ESEN The International Symposium "European Discourses on Japan" Plants in Japanese Culture Boğaziçi University, September 14-15, 2012 ABSTRACT: This paper deals with the diary of Lady Murasaki Shikibu, one of the most prominent women writers of history of Japanese Literature; in terms of plants and their use in the text. By searching the text it has been determined plants appeared in the diary. They have been categorized under four main headings: 1) Kusa 2) Flowers 3) Trees 4) Others. It is possible to say that this categorization also represents the way Murasaki sees the plants, except for three items that have been categorized under the heading of “others”. These four headings have been examined through six sub-headings to set forth the usage of the plants name in the text: 1) Depiction 2) Metaphoric usage 3) Things (material and shape) 4) Pattern name 5) Color name 6) Cultural usage. The plants are omitted unless mentioned in the text, even though understandable by implications. The use of the plants as food which appeared only in the case of rice cakes has also been eliminated. It has been determined that there is no mention of plants as medicines and scents of plants. In total nineteen different names have been used when mentioning a plant. Seven of them are general definitions such as tree, grass etc, which appeared sixteen times in the text. And the remaining twelve are the names of plants, which have been used thirty-eight times in the text. All of these entries have been searched in the text to determine how Murasaki mentioned them and brief explanations of the plants in terms of their meanings in Japanese society until the Heian Period are quoted from previous researches. In the diary there is also a close connection between time and plants as seen in other literary works of the period. Thirty of the fifty four usages of plants under all 4 headings and 6 sub-headings are associated with time concepts such as seasons, the age of a person or the passing of time. Key Words: Heian, literature, woman, plant.

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