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TIL that the first known novel was written by a woman in Japan over a thousand years ago
I was reading a random article online about literary history and it said 'The Tale of Genji' by Murasaki Shikibu, written around 1021, is considered the world's first novel. My brain just went 'WHOA' because I always pictured some old European guy in a library. What's a historical fact that totally surprised you and would make a good writing prompt?
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kimg576mo ago
Okay but calling it the "first novel" feels like a stretch (and I say this as someone who loves the book). You have to define what a novel is, and a lot of scholars argue that long prose fiction existed in other forms way earlier, like in ancient Greece or Rome. Calling it the first just because it's Japanese and by a woman feels like a modern political move more than solid literary history. It's an amazing book, but the "first novel" title is more about how we choose to see history than a hard fact.
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nina1476mo ago
Reminds me of a professor who spent a whole class arguing about what counts as a sandwich.
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sethh586mo ago
Honestly I used to think the same way, that calling it the first novel was just hype. But then I read the thing. It's not just a story, it's a full character study with a huge cast and complex feelings over a long time. It feels modern in a way ancient epics don't. The argument about definitions is fair, but after reading it, I get why it gets that title. It just does something different.
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