TEXT AND TEXTILE IN THE PILLOW BOOK

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This text is a three-part reflection upon the theme of “clothing” as it is found in a literary work of Ancient Japan — on the importance of garment-making skills as a device for the production of difference in the context of the Imperial Court; on how the theme from the book resonates in the context of 20th century fashion; and on how it is brought up to date and amplified, working as a metaphor for writing, in the film adaptation of the ancient text. In The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon (Japan, 10th–11th centuries), text, textile and memory merge into an extended, web-like metaphor that is also a commentary on the status of women in Imperial Heian. The adaptation of the written work for the cinema (The Pillow Book, by Peter Greenaway, 1996) features clothes by deconstructivist Martin Margiela, adding new interpretative layers to this cluster of images, relating them to the acts of writing, weaving, reading, translating, adapting and deconstructing. The fragmentary character of Sei Shônagon’s work also resonates with fashion journalism of the 20th century. The aesthetic ideal of okashi, a concept from classical Japanese literature, resonates with 20th century conceptions of fashion, such as Diana Vreeland’s pizzazz, and with the aesthetics of modernist poetry. Clothing as a metaphor for text and the idea of clothing as text are present in those three interpretative moments.