Monogatari

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Monogatari (Japanese: 物語, [monoɡaꜜtaɾi]) is a literary form 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 fictional or fictionalized 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.

The form was prominent around the 9th to 15th centuries, reaching a peak between the 10th and 13th centuries.^[1] Monogatari was the court literature during the Heian era and also persisted in the form of archaic fiction until the sixteenth century.^[1] According to the Fūyō Wakashū (1271), at least 198 monogatari existed by the 13th century and that only 24 exist today.^[2]

The genre is subdivided into multiple categories depending on their contents:

Stories dealing with fantastical events.

Stories drawn from poetry.

Aristocratic court romances.

Historical tales that emerged during the late Heian period, flourishing until the medieval age.^[3] These narratives were commonly written in kanbun (hybrid form of Chinese) or wabun (Japanese).^[3] Two of the most notable of this monogatari included the Eiga Monogatari and Ōkagami, which both narrated the story of Michinaga, the renowned Fujiwara regent.^[3]

Military chronicles and stories about war.

Anecdotal tales.

Pseudo-classical imitations of earlier tales.

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).

• 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

• Frédéric, Louis (2002) [1996 (in French as Le Japon : Dictionnaire et Civilisation)]. "Monogatari". Japan Encyclopedia. Translated by Roth, Käthe (English ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 657. ISBN 9780674007703. OCLC 48943301. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
• Kubota, Jun (2007). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten [Iwanami Dictionary of Japanese Classical Literature] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6. OCLC 122941872.
• Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten: Kan'yakuban [A Comprehensive Dictionary of Classical Japanese Literature: Concise Edition]. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. 1986. ISBN 4-00-080067-1. OCLC 22820487.