Collaborative work turned into authorial writing: The formal structure of Taketori Monogatari

Abstract

The narrative named Taketori monogatari (The narrative of the Bamboo Cutter, Century IX or X) is the oldest representative of the so-called monogatari genre and one of the first pieces of work in prose written during Heian Court (794-1185), regarded as the brightest moment of Japanese Classical Literature. Moreover, Taketori monogatari is a unique piece of work even within Heian Literature, being seen as archaic and groundbreaking, because it displays, at the same time, conservative procedures, from previous and older literary traditions, and innovative procedures, that will become usual in the coming literature. In this paper, I intend to spotlight the distinctive position that Taketori monogatari holds in Japanese Literary Tradition, discussing a few of its structural procedures and how they aid the development of the story.