Medieval Japanese literature: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 14: === Authors and readership === Medieval Japanese literature is most often associated with members of the [[samurai|warrior class]], religious figures and hermits (隠者 ''inja''), but the [[kuge|nobility]] maintained a degree of their former prestige and occupied an important position in literary circles.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=258}} This was especially true in the early Developments in the performing arts allowed for large groups of people to appreciate literature on a broader level than before.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=258}} As the social classes that had previously supported the arts fell away, new groups stepped in as both creators and audiences for literary works.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=258}} These conditions encouraged the growth of a literature that was more visual and auditory than the [[Heian literature|literature of Japanese classical period]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=258}} This is true of performing arts like ''nō'' and [[buyō|traditional dance]], but also includes such genres as the ''[[emakimono]]'', which combined words and images, and ''[[e-toki]]'', which conveyed tales and Buddhist parables via images.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=258}} Line 57: The historical and court romances were a continuation of the works of the Heian period, but a new genre that built upon the foundations laid by these emerged in the Kamakura period: the ''[[gunki monogatari]]'', which is also known as simply ''gunki'', or ''senki monogatari''.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} The immediate predecessors of these works were ''[[kanbun]]'' chronicles composed in the Heian era such as the ''{{illm|Shōmonki|ja|将門記}}'' and ''{{illm|Mutsu Waki|ja|陸奥話記}}'', as well as warrior tales included in the ''[[Konjaku Monogatari-shū]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} The ''gunki monogatari'' emerged in the early medieval era as a form of popular entertainment, with the most important early works being the ''[[Hōgen Monogatari]]'', the ''[[Heiji Monogatari]]'', and ''The Tale of the Heike''.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} These three recounted, in order, the three major conflicts that led to the rise of the warrior class at the end of the Heian period. They were composed in ''[[wakan konkō-bun]]'', a form of literary Japanese that combined the ''[[yamato-kotoba]]'' of the court romances with Chinese elements, and described fierce battles in the style of [[epic poetry]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} They portrayed strong characters proactively and forcefully, in a manner that Ichiko notes was appropriate for the age of the warrior class's ascendancy.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} The ''Heike'' in particular was widely recited by ''[[biwa-hōshi]]'', travelling monks, usually blind, who recited the tale to the accompaniment of the ''[[biwa]]'', and this was a very popular form of entertainment throughout the country all through the The authors of these works are largely unknown, but they were frequently adapted to meet the tastes of their audiences, with court literati, Buddhist hermits, and artists of the lower classes all likely having a hand in their formation.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} There are, consequently, a very large number of variant texts.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} In addition to the largely unprecedented manner in which these works were formed, they led to the rise of ''{{illm|heikyoku|ja|平曲}}'' style of musical accompaniment.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=259}} Line 124: In the Muromachi period, the ''waka'' composed by the nobility continued to stagnate, and after {{illm|Asukai Masayo|ja|飛鳥井雅世}} compiled the ''[[Shinshoku-kokin Wakashū]]'', the twenty-first imperial anthology, the age of court ''waka'' was at its end.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=261}} The most important ''waka'' poets of this period were not courtiers but monks, hermits, and warriors. Examples of prominent monk-poets are the Nijō poet [[Ton'a]] in the Nanbokuchō period and [[Shōtetsu]] (who wrote the book of poetic theory ''{{illm|Shōtetsu Monogatari|ja|正徹物語}}'') and {{illm|Shinkei|ja|心敬}} (who was also a noted ''renga'' master) in the Muromachi period.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=261}} Important ''waka'' poets of the samurai class include [[Imagawa Ryōshun]] in the early period, {{illm|Tō Tsuneyori|ja|東常縁}} (said to be the founder of the ''kokin-denju'' tradition) and others toward the middle of this period, and [[Hosokawa Yūsai]] at the very end of the === ''Renga'' === Line 201: The Jesuits also published linguistic works such as the Portuguese-Japanese dictionary ''[[Vocabulário da Língua do Japão]]'' and [[João Rodrigues Tçuzu|João Rodrigues]]'s ''[[Arte da Lingoa de Iapam]]'', which were originally produced to assist in proselytizing activities, but have become important resources for [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[historical linguistics]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=263}} Other works included ''[[Dochirina Kirishitan]]'', a Japanese edition of ''[[Doctrina Christiana]]'' that has been noted for its simple, clear and direct use of the Japanese vernacular.{{sfnm|1a1=Ichiko|1y=1983|1p=263}} Ichiko notes that these works, which were all produced in the Azuchi–Momoyama and very early Edo periods, did not have a significant influence on medieval Japanese literature, but are nonetheless an important part of the history of Japanese thought at the end of the == References == | |||