Deconstructing the "Divine Nation" : Inside/Outside in Taihei-ki(<Special Issue>The "Inside" and the "Outside" of Medieval Japan)

Abstract

The last part of Taihei-ki which consists of "Koraijin-raicho-no-koto" and two other chapters is devoted to the historical description of the Mongolian attack. When the Mongolian tried to invade Japan in the late thirteenth century, it provoked a strong patriotism and helped much to form the ideology of the "divine nation." But in the historical discourse of Taihei-ki made about a hundred years after the incident, the nationalistic ideology was no longer upheld and even subtly subverted. The aim of this essay is to read the deconstructive effect of Taihei-ki which nullifies the very dichotomy of "inside (the divine nation)"/ "outside (the foreign enemy)" the ideology depends on.