Madame Chrysanthème (novel)

Madame Chrysanthème
Title page for Madame Chrysanthème (1888 edition)
AuthorPierre Loti
LanguageFrench
Set inMeiji Japan
Publication date
1887
Two standing men in white and a sitting woman in kimono.
Pierre Le Cor, Pierre Loti and Okane-San, photographed in 1885.

Madame Chrysanthème is an 1887 novel by Pierre Loti, presented as the autobiographical journal of a naval officer who was temporarily married to a Japanese woman while he was stationed in Nagasaki, Japan.[1] It closely follows the journal he kept of one-month paid relationship with Kiku (Chrysanthemum) in the Jūzenji (十善寺) neighbourhood (modern day Jūninmachi (十人町)) in 1885.[2] Originally written in French,Madame Chrysanthème it was very successful, running to 25 editions in the first five years of its publication with translations into several languages including English.[3] It has been considered a key text in shaping western attitudes toward Japan at the turn of the 20th century.[4] It is known in Japan under the title of お菊さん (O Kiku-san), a direct translation of the French name.

André Messager's 1893 opera Madame Chrysanthème is based on the novel, as are some aspects of Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly.[5]

References

Notes

  1. ^ "The Original Story: John Luther Long and David Belasco". New York City Opera Project: Madama Butterfly. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  2. ^ Miskow, Catherine (2011-12-15). "The Chrysanthemum and the Butterfly: What, if Anything, Remains of Pierre Loti in the Madame Butterfly Narrative". Utah Foreign Language Review. 19. Archived from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  3. ^ Van Rij 2001, pp. 34–35
  4. ^ Reed 2010, p. 1
  5. ^ Van Rij 2001, p. 29

Sources

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