new term :)

as i've been reading "obasan" by joy kagawa for my english 359 course, it's interesting to see what japanese aesthetics are in it in comparison to what we've read.

anyways, the term that i found in "obasan" is wagamama which means "selfish and inconsiderate" (kogawa 138). in other words, one should not be wagamama and thus should meet the needs of everyone else instead of seeing to ones own needs (which is bad).

in contrast to genji, can we say that genji is wagamama or not as we do see him pretty assertive in a few chapters in the book. one example maybe his meeting with fijitsubo, blatent wagamama. then there's the incident with murasaki, in which genji takes her away, but does give her a life that she might not have been able to enjoy. and later on (after his exile) he allows for other women to live in his palace/house.

i realize this leads else where, but what do you guys think?