Paper short abstract:

My paper aims at questioning the traditional approach to the study of oboegaki by reassessing the significance of this genre in the history of literature. For this purpose, I will consider a set of case studies from 17th-century Satsuma and Sendai domains.

Paper long abstract:

As Japan entered into the "warless" 17th century, the social order

underwent a major reorganization. Warriors and monks who had fought on the

battlefield during the Sengoku period felt urged to summarize their

experience in the form of memoirs—the so-called "senkō oboegaki" or

personal records of military exploits. So far, scholars have used these

texts primarily as historical sources. However, I argue for the

re-evaluation of such material and its importance to the history of arts

and literature. Even more, I maintain that this genre may capture the

spirit of the times of this period.

In my presentation, I will discuss the literary significance of oboegaki by

analyzing a set written by the Shimazu clan in Satsuma and the Date clan in

Sendai. Specifically, I will focus on how these works attest to the

reception of classical literature and how, in turn, they would later

influence the compilation of history books (shisho), war tales (gunki),

miscellaneous writings (zuihitsu), and so forth. I will also consider

their performative appeal, as their style seemingly sought to capture the

lively words of the war witnesses.