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- Convenors:
-
Raisa Porrasmaa
(Helsinki University)
Stina Jelbring (Stockholm University)
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- Stream:
- Pre-modern Literature
- Location:
- Torre B, Piso 2, Sala T7
- Sessions:
- Thursday 31 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
In classical Japanese literature, the character known as irogonomi is usually an ideal gentleman, interested in romantic love. The panelists discuss the representations of these characters from the point of view of humor and parody. The timeline reaches from the Heian to the Edo period.
Long Abstract:
In classical Japanese literature, the character known as irogonomi is usually an ideal gentleman, interested in romantic love and talented in expressing his emotions through music, poetry etc. The panelists discuss the representations of these characters from the point of view of humor and parody. The timeline reaches from the Heian to the Edo period.
Stina Jelbring argues that aesthetic sensitivity, which is typical of Heian literatute, could be bestowed a humorous touch and that Heian works often include examples of various kinds of humor. According to Jelbring, it was the aesthetic ideal of courtiers that was one outstanding object of parody. For instance, in Ise Monogatari, the ideal of sensitivity to transient things manifests itself in easily moved male courtiers, who at times are being depicted as comical, Jelbring states. She has also picked up examples from Genji monogatari.
Raisa Porrasmaa discusses later works of courtly fiction in the same vein. Her examples have been taken from Tsutsumi chūnagon monogatari and Torikahebaya monogatari. In the case of later monogatari, we meet gentlemen who are courting ladies in "irogonomic" way, but these episodes end surprisingly in a comical or ironic fashion. Researchers such as Misumi Yōichi have considered these kinds of performances as "parody of irogonomi". However, we have plenty of examples of stories from earlier times (as seen in Jelbring's presentation) where something unexpected happens, leading to a comical episode. Consequently Porrasmaa argues that the ideal (literary) irogonomi actually is lightly comical and thus a very human character.
Irina Melnikova analyzes Koshoku ichidai otoko by Ihara Saikaku. The scholarly interpretation of Saikaku since the Meiji era indicates certain disagreement about the literary value of Koshoku. Many great Japanese experts of the Edo period linked the problem to the meaning of the intertextual dialogue between Koshoku and Genji. The key question was whether references to Genji were the tools of parody and deconstruction of the «high» Heian literature, Melnikova states. She has compared readings of some post-war Japanese commentators of Koshoku related to Genji, and shows how their interpretations address the raising of the status of Edo period prose.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 31 August, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
In the works of the Heian period we find examples of various kinds of humour such as parody. One outstanding object of parody was, the aesthetic ideal to which sensitivity could be counted. We may see that this ideal manifests itself in easily moved male courtiers, who could be depicted as comical.
Paper long abstract:
When, at the end of the 8th century, the capital of Japan moved to today's Kyoto, the so-called Heian period (794-1185) began. At court, persons with literary skills gathered in a kind of literary salon wherein they found a circle of readers.
What kind of literature and aesthetic ideals were predominant? One way of describing it is that it put sensitivity and suggestion in first place: Literature should evoke emotion towards the transitoriness of things and human relations.
However, what did not warrant equal attention was that this sensitivity to inconstancy could also bestow a humorous touch. We actually find frequent examples of various kinds of humour such as irony, parody, wordplay, etc., in this literature. Among these, one outstanding object of parody was, according to the courtiers, the exact aesthetic ideal to which sensitivity could be counted.
In, for example, the 10th century Tales of Ise (Ise Monogatari) - a collection of short stories revolving around poems, which are said to depict the "elegance at the court" - it is quite evident that the ideal of sensitivity to transient things manifests itself in easily moved male courtiers, who were at times depicted as comical. In Episode 9, there is even a witty comparison of how an abundance of tears could make "the rise swell", and in Episode 63 it takes even more drastic forms when the story of an elderly woman's longing for love is told. In this story, the paragon of an irogonomi character, Narihira, also appears.
Another instance of parody worth mentioning is the way the narrator, to some extent, makes fun of her main character Genji in the second chapter of the 11th century Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari). She introduces him as if he would have been laughed at by the personification of a real hero, and after this follows a series of amorous affairs that only lead to disappointment. This makes us wonder whether Genji should be regarded as a Don Quijote figure rather than a Don Juan figure, as he has often been regarded.
Paper short abstract:
In the case of late Heian and Kamakura monogatari, we meet gentlemen who are courting ladies in "irogonomic" way. However, these episodes end surprisingly in a comical or ironic fashion. I argue that the ideal (literary) irogonomi actually is lightly comical and thus a very human character.
Paper long abstract:
In Heian-Kamakura court literature, the character known as irogonomi is usually an ideal gentleman, interested in romantic love and talented in expressing his emotions through music, poetry or other proper measures.
In the case of late Heian and Kamakura monogatari, we meet gentlemen who are courting ladies in a properly "irogonomic" way. Nevertheless, these episodes end surprisingly in a comical or ironic fashion. Researchers such as Misumi Yōichi have considered these kinds of performances as "parody of irogonomi". However, I argue that the ideal (literary) irogonomi gentleman actually is lightly comical and thus a very human character. It is possible that readers were even expecting that an ideal gentleman would make a mistake and the courting episode would end comically.
In this presentation I will take examples of this phenomenon, for example, from the story of Hanazakura Oru Shōshō from Tsutsumi Chūnagon monogatari, in which the irogonomi protagonist abducts a lady, but at the end of the story it appears that under cover of darkness he has actually taken the old auntie of the lady with him. Another example comes from Torikahebaya, where the character of Saichō Chūjō has been said to be parodying irogonomi and described to be playing the role of oko, an idiot.
Nevertheless, I point out that we have plenty of examples from earlier times where a gentleman commits a mistake or something unexpected happens, leading to a comical episode. For comparison, I pick examples from Taketori monogatari, Genji monogatari and Ise monogatari, in order to show that the failure story, shippaitan (失敗譚), seems to have been a common pattern for irogonomi episodes since ancient times.