헤이안 시대 모노가타리의 서사 공간, ‘누리고메’(塗籠)

Abstract

This paper focuses on "Nurigome" as "narrative figure space" in the Heian era monogatari, through concrete analysis of the examples in the text. In doing so, the meaning and function of this closed space, nurigome, in the Heian era monogatari is discussed. Traditionally, research on the nurigome has considered it to be a narrative space, a space that is a "sanctuary", a refuge space within male-female relationships, or a space of renewal. The present paper, however, makes the following observations. Nurigome was established as a major space in the monogatari which embodied the way of life and the love of the aristocracy, with the development of Shinden-zukuri in the Heian era. It belongs, however, to the wider flow of narrative techniques of Japan ancient prose. In the monogatari, nurigome serves various functions, as an actual architectural space, a shelter in the relationship between men and women, a space for political protest, a place befit for the hostess, and as a place where the spiritual dwells. As such, nurigome is a space that can not be uniformly defined as either holy nor profane. It should also be noted that both genders could be the narrative subject of the nurigome in the Heian era monogatari, and therefore nurigome as a shelter in male-female relationships is a confined space for the underdog in the relationship, regardless of gender. In addition, the function of the nurigome as a narrative space differs according to genre. In most of the fictional monogatari forms, it is a place of crisis in romance in relationships between men and women, but it has nothing to do with being a space of love between men and women in the case of historical stories and tales. It can therefore be said that, in addition to the basic use of the practical architectural space that is the nurigome as a narrative space in the Heian era monogatari, the nature of that space differs according to the inherent nature of the genre and text. It thus becomes possible to acknowledge the flexible shape of the narrative shape as represented by the nurigome in the Heian era monogatari.