Sei Shonagon lived over a 1000 years ago in Japan. Somehow, we now have access to what is titled The Pillow Book, the writings of Sei Shonagon. Currently an imprint of Penguin Books, as a Masters student I was tasked with reimagining passages of those words.
The Pillow Book refers ostensibly to Shonagon’s bedside journal, and those words reflect her responses to daily life as a lady of companionship in a culture that encouraged polyamorous experiences within Japanese court.
Based on my experience as an english woman born in 1978 I little personal experience to draw upon when feeling into how to display, reimagine Shonagon’s words. My final outcome reflects my desires to reinstate some opacity for what I came to decide were personal accounts that hadn’t been commissioned by the author for representation. The pages in my book highlight phrases, ideas and thoughts that are probably universal and timeless, independent of context or environment. I chose that way to honour the memory of Sei Shonagon.
