The Woman Playing a "Naishi" Lady : Writing of Sei-Syonagon(<Special Issue>Language and Shamanism)

Abstract

Sei-Syonagon started writing Makura-no-soshi, pressed by her superior Chugu-Teishi and at the same time urged by her own passion for self-expression. This double motive for writing is strongly related to her willingness to play a "naishi" (lady-in-waiting) at Chugu-Teishi's court. Sei-Syonagon found an ideal type of a woman in a "naishi" lady and played the role herself to wait on Chugu-Teishi, now recording her lord's words and then describing life at the court. Thus engaged in role-playing, she developed her own form of writing. Here I would like to read Makura-no-soshi as a "Naishi" narrative.