- Convenors:
-
Oriane guillemot
(Paris Cité university)
Morgaine Setzer-Mori (Ruhr University Bochum)
Rui Sudo
Send message to Convenors
- Discussant:
-
Paola Maschio
(Ca' Foscari University of Venice)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Pre-modern Literature
Short Abstract
In an epoch-spanning approach comprising the Heian- and the Edo-period, this panel inquires into the literary and social functions of humour and laughter through the example of the Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari 伊勢物語 10th century).
Long Abstract
This panel examines the literary and social functions of humour and laughter in Japanese literature through a diachronic analysis of the Ise monogatari 伊勢物語 (10th century), spanning from the Heian period to the Edo period. By combining textual analysis, reception history, and material culture, it aims to reassess the role of humour in a work traditionally associated with refinement, poetic sensitivity, and aristocratic elegance.
The Ise monogatari has long been read as a quintessential expression of Heian court culture, emphasizing emotional subtlety and lyrical aesthetics. Yet many of its episodes rely on comical situations, ironic misunderstandings, and playful reversals of social expectations. The first presentation revisits the original 10th-century text in order to question the place of humour and laughter within Heian literary culture. Through close readings of selected episodes, it asks whether the Tales of Ise can be considered, at least in part, a comical work.
The second presentation shifts the focus to the Edo period, when classical texts were increasingly reinterpreted for new audiences. It investigates how humour and laughter associated with the Ise monogatari were reused, transformed, and recontextualized in Edo-period literary works. By examining selected examples, it highlights how Edo authors adapted Heian comic motifs to different social environments, aesthetic preferences, and narrative conventions, thereby revealing both continuity and creative reinterpretation in the reception of the text.
The third presentation adopts a broader perspective by tracing the dissemination of the Ise monogatari through printed editions and adaptations from the early seventeenth century onward. Focusing on publishing practices and commercial circulation, it analyzes how humour contributed to the commodification and popularization of the work in early modern Japan.
Taken together, the three presentations demonstrate how humour and laughter function as key mediators between text, society, and material culture across historical periods.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed) |
Accepted papers
Paper short abstract
Shifting from the Heian period to the Edo period, this paper analyzes Ihara Saikaku’s parodic engagement with The Tales of Ise. It examines how parody and haikai recontextualize Ise-derived motifs within urban commoner culture, transforming courtly values into sources of humor.
Paper long abstract
In contrast to the preceding presentation, which analyzes “laughter” within The Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari) itself, this paper shifts its focus from the Heian period to the early modern Edo period. The publication of the Saga-bon edition in 1608 constituted a decisive turning point in the reception history of The Tales of Ise, fundamentally transforming its readership. While the Saga-bon was initially read primarily among haikai poets, subsequent developments in printing technology enabled The Tales of Ise to circulate more widely among urban commoners, thereby expanding its audience. Within this cultural context, Ariwara no Narihira came to be widely recognized through a shared image—or code—of the handsome and amorous man.
Against this backdrop, numerous works drawing on The Tales of Ise were produced, as will be discussed in detail in the following presentation. One of the figures who most astutely engaged with this trend was Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693), known both as a Danrin haikai poet and as a writer of ukiyozōshi. Although it is well known that Kōshoku ichidai otoko (The Life of an Amorous Man), Saikaku’s debut work, incorporates elements of The Tales of Ise in a parodic mode, his engagement with Ise extends far beyond this single text. Saikaku repeatedly incorporates and reworks motifs, images, and character types derived from The Tales of Ise across his oeuvre, ranging from Tales of Gallantry and travel narratives to haikai compositions.
This paper explores how Saikaku, through the techniques of parody and haikai, appropriates Ise-derived motifs and situates them within the literary and social contexts of early modern urban commoners. By examining how courtly values and aesthetics associated with The Tales of Ise are recontextualized within these frameworks, the analysis clarifies how Saikaku generates comic effects that resonate with early modern urban audiences.
Paper short abstract
This paper focuses on the production and distribution of prints of the Ise monogatari 伊勢物語 (10th century, author unknown) and its adaptations from the beginning of the 17th until the end of the 19th century.
Paper long abstract
Building on the literary analyses presented in the previous two papers, this presentation investigates the practical dissemination of humour and laughter from the perspective of the publishing history of the Ise monogatari during the Edo period. Rather than focusing solely on textual interpretation, it shifts attention to the material and commercial conditions under which the work was approached and circulated. The paper examines paratextual materials such as colophons, advertisements, and booksellers’ catalogues, and compares a range of printed editions of the Ise monogatari with particular attention to their time and place of production. By situating these editions within broader publishing networks, the analysis aims to illuminate how humour was framed and marketed to different readerships. In addition to ‘canonical’ editions, the study includes popular adaptations, such as the Ise monogatari hirakotoba 伊勢物語ひら言葉 (1679, by Ki Zankei 紀暫計, n.d.), the Kōshoku Ise monogatari 好色伊勢物語 (1686, by Shurakuken 酒楽軒, n.d.), and the Shinjitsu Ise monogatari 真実伊勢物語 (1690, by Ihara Saikaku 井原西鶴, 1642–93).
Furthermore, taking into consideration humour on a metatextual level, the paper addresses the parodic engagement with the Ise monogatari itself. This includes the publication of parodies such as the Nise monogatari 似勢物語 (c. 1639–40, author unknown) and the Ise monogatari haikai mame otoko Musō no Zukin 伊勢物語俳諧まめ男夢想頭巾 (1744–63), written by Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (1686–1764). These works demonstrate how humour functioned not only within the narrative but also as a commentary on the text’s cultural authority.
By assembling and comparing data on the diverse printed editions of the Ise monogatari, this paper seeks to gain a macroscopic understanding of the production, dissemination, and reception of its humorous textual elements within the Edo-period publishing landscape
Paper short abstract
The Tales of Ise are usually read through the ideal of miyabi. Taking the ambiguous expression "ichihayaki miyabi" in the first anecdote as a starting point, this paper examines several episodes to explore the work through the lens of laughter and irony.
Paper long abstract
A major masterpiece of Japanese literature, the Tales of Ise rank among the most widely read, commented upon, and reinterpreted works in the history of Japanese literary culture. Despite the abundance of scholarship devoted to them, the question of laughter and comedy remains surprisingly underexplored. Over the centuries, the Tales of Ise have most often been associated with the image of an elegant and refined world, populated by characters idealized both aesthetically and morally. This interpretation is closely linked to a broader reading of Heian-period narratives as reflections of a golden age of the imperial court, dominated by ideals of beauty, harmony, and distinction. The frequent use of the aesthetic concept of miyabi to characterize the work has undoubtedly reinforced this idealized vision, relegating elements of excess or incongruity, potential sources of laughter, to the background.
A closer reading of the Tales of Ise, however, calls for a reassessment of this interpretation. Many characters and situations depart from the model of ideal elegance traditionally associated with the work. Moreover, the term miyabi itself appears only once in the entire text, precisely in Anecdote 1, and never in isolation. Instead, it is combined with the qualifier ichihayaki in the expression "ichihayaki miyabi". Long understood as a form of praise emphasizing the hero’s spontaneous refinement, this expression has been reexamined by Yamamoto Tokurō through its usage in contemporary texts. His analysis shows that ichihayaki frequently carries pejorative connotations, referring to impulsiveness, excess, or socially inappropriate behavior. From this perspective, ichihayaki miyabi may be interpreted not as praise, but as an ambiguous, possibly mocking, formulation on the part of the narrator toward his hero.
Taking the ambiguous expression ichihayaki miyabi in the first anecdote as a point of departure, this paper approaches the work through the lens of laughter and extends the analysis to other episodes in order to examine the comic and ironic dimensions of the text.