ナラトロジーと中世日本文学研究の交差の可能性：『神道集』「那波八郎大明神事」を基にした物語論の再検討と本文分析

While recent research of European medieval literature actively engages with narrative theory, there are but few studies of medieval Japanese literature that pursue a narratological approach. This article uses the tale “Nawa Hachirō daimyōjin no koto ” ( “On the Great Bright Deity Hachirō of Nawa ”) from the mid-fourteenth-century col- lection Shintōshū as an example to demonstrate how combining the study of medieval Japanese literature and narratology can lead to both theoretical insights as well as a deeper understanding of narration in premodern Japan. The Shintōshū is particularly well-suited for this kind of investigation as numerous variants of its tales sur- vive. From a theoretical point of view, the Shintōshū’ s nature as a collection comprising both narrative and non- narrative parts is particularly noteworthy, since this structure has important implications for a theory of the narrator. Hitherto, research on narration in Japanese literature has mostly relied on “classical” narratology, even though some scholars vaguely refer to its deficiencies. Instead of adhering to one specific theoretical model, it seems more promising to take contemporary, so-called “post-classical” narratology as a starting point. Moreover, since preceding research on the Shintōshū has analyzed the tales in terms of story rather than discourse, this article focuses on major concepts related to narrative discourse̶ distance, perspective, and narrator̶ to shed light on narrative techniques that have been overlooked. These theoretical concepts are first introduced based on current research, correcting inconsistencies of structural theories such as the one by Gérard Genette, while paying special attention to characteristics of premodern Japanese narrative. This theoretical section is followed by a narratologi- cal analysis of “Nawa Hachirō daimyōjin no koto,” which exhibits not only varying degrees of narrativity, but also a rare instance in which the narrator seems to imply focalization, only to reveal that this was not really the case. In addition, a comparison with local variants of the tale (zaichi engi) shows that while in studies of premodern Japa- nese literature “influence” has mostly been explained in terms of direct quotations or shared plot structures, it is also possible to detect influence through narrative techniques.