The Waka of the Genji Monogatari and Oral Literature : The Case of Lady Rokujo's Waka(<Feature Articles>Early Poetry and Prose)

Abstract

The recitation of waka by the mononoke(possessing spirits)in the Genji Monogatari is a highly unusual phenomenon to judge from other records of the day. The poems recited by Lady Rokujo in "Aoi" and "Wakana, Part Two" are not simply compositions by the author. The first is based on magical chants or magical poems, thought to have been orally recited, and the latter resembles a poem transmitted as Komachi's Composition. In these waka it is possible to distinguish between a surface, prose-like, expository aspect and an underlying oral dimension.