View source for Monogatari

{{Short description|Literary form in Japanese literature}}
{{Italic title}}
{{For|the light novel series|Monogatari (series){{!}}''Monogatari'' (series)}}
{{More footnotes|date=June 2014}}
[[File:Murasaki Shikibu.jpg|thumb|[[Murasaki Shikibu]], author of ''Genji monogatari'' (''[[The Tale of Genji]]'')]]

{{Nihongo|'''''Monogatari'''''|物語||{{IPA|ja|monoɡaꜜtaɾi|}}|lead=yes}} is a [[Literary genre|literary form]] in traditional [[Japanese literature]] – an extended [[prose]] [[narrative]] tale comparable to [[epic (genre)|epic]] literature. ''Monogatari'' is closely tied to aspects of the [[oral tradition]], and almost always relates a [[fiction]]al 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.

== History ==
The form was prominent around the 9th to 15th centuries, reaching a peak between the 10th and 13th centuries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Pettersson |first=Anders |date=2006 |chapter=Introduction: Concepts of Literature and Transcultural Literary History |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2muIgoqGR1kC |editor-last=Pettersson |editor-first=Anders |title=Literary History: Towards a Global Perspective |volume=1: ''Notions of Literature Across Times and Cultures'' |location=Berlin; New York |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Literary_History/2muIgoqGR1kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=monogatari 13] |isbn=9783110189322 |oclc=1030572651}}</ref> ''Monogatari'' was the court literature during the Heian era and also persisted in the form of archaic fiction until the sixteenth century.<ref name=":0" /> The ''[[Fūyō Wakashū]]'' (1271) indicates that at least 198 ''monogatari'' existed by the 13th century. Today, only 24 exist.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Tale of Eleventh-Century Japan: Hamamatsu Chunagon Monogatari |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Idr_AwAAQBAJ |translator-last=Rohlich |translator-first=Thomas H. |year=2014 |orig-year=1983 |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Tale_of_Eleventh_Century_Japan/Idr_AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover 4 (Introduction)] |isbn=9781400856688 |oclc=884013397}}</ref>

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

===''Denki-monogatari''===
Stories dealing with fantastical events.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter|Taketori Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'')
* ''[[Utsubo Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of the Hollow Tree'')
* ''[[Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai]]''}}

===''Uta-monogatari''===
{{Main|Uta monogatari}}

Stories drawn from poetry.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[Heichū Monogatari]]'' (''Tales of Heichū'')
* ''[[Ise Monogatari]]'' (''Tales of Ise'')
* ''[[Yamato Monogatari]]'' (''Tales of Yamato'')
}}

===''Tsukuri-monogatari''===
Aristocratic court romances.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[The Tale of Genji|Genji Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of Genji'')
* ''[[Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari]]''
* ''[[Ochikubo Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of Ochikubo'')
* ''[[Sagoromo Monogatari]]''
* ''[[Torikaebaya Monogatari]]''
* ''[[Tsutsumi Chūnagon Monogatari]]''
* ''[[Yoru no Nezame]]'' (''Wakeful Nights'')
}}

===''Rekishi-monogatari''===
{{Main|Rekishi monogatari}}

Historical tales that emerged during the late Heian period, flourishing until the [[Medieval Japanese literature|medieval]] age.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Japan at War: An Encyclopedia|last=Perez|first=Louis G.|date=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598847413|location=Santa Barbara, CA|pages=464}}</ref> These narratives were commonly written in ''[[kanbun]]'' (hybrid form of [[Chinese language|Chinese]]) or ''wabun'' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]).<ref name=":1" /> Two of the most notable  of this monogatari included the ''[[Eiga Monogatari]]'' and ''[[Ōkagami]],'' which both narrated the story of [[Fujiwara no Michinaga|Michinaga]], the renowned [[Fujiwara clan|Fujiwara]] regent.<ref name=":1" />

===''Gunki-monogatari''===
{{Main|Gunki monogatari}}

Military chronicles and stories about war.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[Gikeiki]]'' (''The Tale of Yoshitsune'')
* ''[[The Tale of Heiji|Heiji Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of Heiji'')
* ''[[The Tale of the Heike|Heike Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of the Heike'')
* ''[[The Tale of Hōgen|Hōgen Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of Hōgen'')
* ''[[Soga Monogatari]]'' (''The Tale of the Soga Brothers'')
* ''[[Taiheiki]]'' (''Chronicle of Great Peace'')
}}

===''Setsuwa-monogatari''===
Anecdotal tales.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[Konjaku Monogatarishū]]'' (''Tales of Times Now Past'')
* ''[[Uji Shūi Monogatari]]'' (''A Collection of Tales from Uji'')
}}

===''Giko-monogatari''===
Pseudo-classical imitations of earlier tales.

{{columns-list|
* ''[[Matsura no Miya Monogatari]]''
* ''[[Sumiyoshi Monogatari]]''
}}

==Influence==
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'' ({{lang|ja|二都物語}}), ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' as ''Sen'ichiya Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|千一夜物語}}) and more recently ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' as ''Yubiwa Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|指輪物語}}) and ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' as ''Arabama Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|アラバマ物語}}).

==See also==
* ''[[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

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Frédéric |first=Louis |year=2002 |orig-year=1996 (in French as ''Le Japon : Dictionnaire et Civilisation'') |title=Monogatari |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/japanencyclopedi0000loui_t6g9 |chapter-url-access=registration |encyclopedia=Japan Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/japanencyclopedi0000loui_t6g9 |url-access=registration |edition=English |translator-last=Roth |translator-first=Käthe |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |page=657 |isbn=9780674007703 |oclc=48943301 |access-date=2 January 2025}}
* {{NKBJ}}
* {{NKBD}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Monogatari| ]]
[[Category:Buddhist literature]]
[[Category:Culture of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese chronicles]]