Volume 79, Issue 3 - Special Issue: Author, Narrator, and Character in Japanese Literature to 1900 – Autor, Erzähler und Figur in der Literatur Japans bis 1900; Edited by Sebastian Balmes

As a form of art, literature is always concerned with human experience. The human agents inscribed in works of literature are commonly divided into several levels, the main categories being author, narrator (or lyrical subject), and character. As key concepts of literary studies, these are usually discussed based on modern definitions, and with good reason. This introduction to the special issue on “Author, Narrator, and Character in Japanese Literature to 1900,” however, takes a different approach and focuses on the historical dimension of these concepts. It traces changing notions of authorship in the textual traditions of court tales ( monogatari ) and women’s diary literature ( nikki bungaku ) from the Heian to the Edo period. It also examines the responsibility of scribes and readers as well as the authority of the text as an entity, considering characteristics of premodern Japanese manuscript culture. While a distinction between author and narrator was not perceived in the modern sense, there are exceptions to this rule. Furthermore, it can be shown that there is a close affinity between authors and certain characters. An analysis of different configurations of author, narrator, and character leads to the conclusion that these may be regarded as part of one continuum.

The Man ’ yōshū 萬葉集 is the oldest extant anthology of Japanese poetry. The compilation of over 4,500 poems and some short prose texts into twenty books commenced during the 690s as an initial selection of about fifty poems. During the process of additions to this selection, which may have continued until the end of the eighth century, some poems were annotated. The original titles of these poems provide valuable insights into the circumstances of their composition and the names of their respective poets. However, since certain details were unclear at the outset of the eighth century, the editors endeavored to clarify the circumstances by referring to other texts. It is therefore the titles of the poems as well as the annotations that come into particular focus in the following observations. A further objective is to analyze the speaker instances (author, abstract author, narrating I, and narrated I). Based on a model of Western narratology that pertains to the narrator, an attempt will be made to provide a more comprehensive analysis of these instances.

In its lengthy form, the ancient Japanese court novel The Tale of Genji ( Genji monogatari 源氏物語) famously features more than 400 characters in a realistically constructed setting that reflects the court life and the Heian aristocracy. Although the main narrative centers around the Shining Prince Genji’s adventures and intricate love affairs, it also gives place to interconnected side stories, shifting the main focus from Genji to the female characters. In one of these stories, Yūgao’s daughter, Tamakazura, appears as the heroine of ten consecutive chapters. Tamakazura’s character arc illustrates how her relationship with Genji and others forms a network of dialogic interactions, in which she is shaped, perceived, and defined. This article examines the foundations of Tamakazura’s character formation and growth by drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of exotopy (‘outsidedness’) and unfinished character through her internal monologues, self-composed poems, and interaction with other characters. In addition, James Phelan and Peter Rabinowitz’s tripartite character model—comprising a mimetic (realistic), synthetic (artificial), and thematic (conceptual) dimension— is applied to analyze Tamakazura’s function within The Tale of Genji. Ultimately, the article raises questions about agency and liminal character features by highlighting how fixed narrative roles are challenged in the Ten Tamakazura Chapters ( Tamakazura jūjō 玉鬘十帖).

With their far-reaching impact on the visual and performing arts, “classics” of Japanese literature originating from medieval oral storytelling traditions – above all the Heike monogatari – have become an integral part of Japan’s cultural memory. The same applies to the characters that advance the plot, at least some of which can be authenticated historically. One type seems to play a special role against the background of the stories: daring Buddhist monks endowed with strange powers are basic components of the narratives. This attests to the historical significance of monks as well as of religion in general. Monks, who are often referred to as “servants of the Buddha”, appear at key points in war tales ( gunki monogatari ), such as Mongaku and Benkei, two unflattering men in terms of their worldly character and deeds, but good, even outstanding monks in the context of their respective storylines. Of particular interest is the fact that Benkei figures in several canonical and non-canonical works and that his appearance changes significantly from earlier to later narratives. Mongaku and Benkei are examined regarding typical characteristics, social background and fictional processing of historical circumstances, based on their appearance in the Kakuichi variant of the Heike monogatari and in Benkei’s case the leading role he plays in the Gikeiki .

This paper explores the question of how characters with superhuman powers are portrayed in pre-modern Japanese literature. Although various superhuman warriors appear in war tales and legendary stories, when comparing the episodes and expressions associated with them, it is often found that, even if they are about different warriors, the narratives are often very similar. The same episodes have been reused for various warriors, and since this recycling of stories has continued across the ages and even into modern-day animation, influencing a wide range of works, it is important to trace the history of these episodes and expressions by a comparative analysis. Focusing on two stories that highlight the superhuman nature of Asaina Yoshihide, a famous warrior who lived in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this paper attempts to analyse and organise these stories in chronological order, taking into account the influence of the Chinese story of Fán Kuài, which has not been fully considered in previous research.

Between January and August 1893, Yamaji Aizan and Kitamura Tōkoku engaged in a literary discussion – the well-known Jinsei sōshō dispute – about the relationship between man, nature, and society, as well as the role that literature should (or should not) play in this relationship. Previous studies of their dispute have overemphasized the influence of Western ideas on both thinkers (Protestant theology on Aizan and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s philosophy on Tōkoku) while neglecting the deep East Asian philosophical roots of their respective arguments. This study aims to uncover those roots and to highlight the remarkably universalistic spirit of their thought.