紫式部の「かいま見」の原点 ―源氏物語の作者紫式部の記憶と虚構―

Abstract

In the Heian period, there were numerous historical examples of royals’ abuse where those who were truly of the royal family were stripped of their royal titles and were forced to serve as vassals until when or if they were restored to their rightful positions. Although Genjimonogatari is a fiction novel, its storyline is realistic, for its characters experience, similar forms of political abuse, such as Fujiwara Michinaga and Genji,himseif. These people’s lives were very eventful and complex unlike their unfortunately short life spaus. Though creating an avengeful character who was both stripped and then restored, Murasakishikibu, the author, was able to bring in the strong drama to the story. Reason why Murasakishikibu could write such realistic fiction about such a character was because she grew up with many scholars in her family, and they were well-aware of the happenings within the place walls. Hence, Murasakishikibu included memories of what she had learned, heard, and practiced in this story to make it as realistic as it is. While such realistic aspects exist, some of the author’s real self has also been reflected, discretely, during the scene of “Kaimami”. This scene bears descriptions that are sodetailed and vivid, one could not write it without having experienced it personally. This adds to the realistic aspects in the novel, doubling the readers’ interest. Here, the aim is to focus on such aspects where only one’s position as Murasakishikibu’s Nyobo is emphasized and her personal implications and experiences are shown through “Kaimami”