lead=yes is a Literary genre in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to epic literature. Monogatari is closely tied to aspects of the oral tradition, and almost always relates a or story, even when retelling a historical event. Many of the great works of Japanese fiction, such as the Genji Monogatari and the Heike Monogatari, are in the monogatari form.
History
The form was prominent around the 9th to 15th centuries, reaching a peak between the 10th and 13th centuries.
was the court literature during the Heian era and also persisted in the form of archaic fiction until the sixteenth century.
The
Fūyō Wakashū (1271) indicates that at least 198
monogatari existed by the 13th century. Today, only 24 exist.
Genres
The genre is subdivided into multiple categories depending on their contents:
Denki-monogatari
Stories dealing with fantastical events.
Uta-monogatari
Stories drawn from poetry.
Tsukuri-monogatari
Aristocratic court romances.
Rekishi-monogatari
Historical tales that emerged during the late Heian period, flourishing until the medieval age.
These narratives were commonly written in
kanbun (hybrid form of
Chinese language) or
wabun (Japanese).
Two of the most notable of this monogatari included the
Eiga Monogatari and
Ōkagami, which both narrated the story of Michinaga, the renowned
Fujiwara clan regent.
Gunki-monogatari
Military chronicles and stories about war.
Setsuwa-monogatari
Anecdotal tales.
Giko-monogatari
Pseudo-classical imitations of earlier tales.
Influence
When European and other foreign literature later became known to Japan, the word
monogatari began to be used in Japanese titles of foreign works of a similar nature. For example,
A Tale of Two Cities is known as
Nito Monogatari (二都物語),
One Thousand and One Nights as
Sen'ichiya Monogatari (千一夜物語) and more recently
The Lord of the Rings as
Yubiwa Monogatari (指輪物語) and
To Kill a Mockingbird as
Arabama Monogatari (アラバマ物語).
See also
-
Fūyō Wakashū, a 13th-century collection of poetry from various monogatari sources, many of which are no longer extant
-
Konjaku Monogatarishū, a collection of Heian period Buddhist folklore
-
Mumyōzōshi, a 13th-century literary critique on monogatari, many of which are no longer extant
Citations
General and cited references
