The Fox
Woman
Review
by : Li
Rapkin
Written
by : Kij Johnson
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Kij Johnson's
novel is a retelling of a Japanese fairy tale, set in the
Heian (early medieval) period. In Japanese mythology, foxes
are considered unlucky, and are often accused of stealing
the souls of children, much the way cats were in medieval
Europe. However, the belief that foxes could turn into human
beings was what made people consider them truly dangerous.
The story
is told from three points of view: that of a young fox, the
man she has fallen in love with, and his wife. The fox longs
to be human, not only in form but in nature, as she struggles
to understand poetry (a very important art form in Heian times)
and calligraphy. The object of her affection seeks communion
with the wilderness, as a reaction against the ordered and
ritualized world he lives in, as well has the wife who seems
to fit in it so perfectly. His allegedly perfect wife, however,
fears the wilderness-not without good reason- and she in turn
is disturbed by her husband's unconventional behavior.
When you're
rewriting an extant story, it's not so much what you do -that's
decided ahead of time- but how you do it. Ms. Johnson has
managed not only to evoke, but to sustain throughout the entire
story the nostalgia and melancholy that permeated much of
the art and literature of the period. It's not hard to imagine
the story as a contemporary monogatari (illustrated novel)
scroll. Her treatment of the material, however, is modern,
which is for the best.
The Fox
Woman is best compared to the work of authors like Diana Paxson
and Marion Zimmer Bradley, who have made an art out of rewriting
traditional stories into novels. It's a far cry from the bastardized
versions you see in Disney movies and children's books.
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