The Editorial Policy of Selection and Arrangement in Konjaku-monogatari-shū: On the Origin of Kino-Tsurayuki's Tosa-nikki as a Work for His Lost Child

Abstract

In his Kokubungaku-shi-kouwa Sakutarō Fujioka stated that Kino-Tsurayuki originally wrote Tosa-nikki to the memory of his lost child. This alleged origin of the work was also reworked into a fable in Konjaku-monogatari-shū. This paper will first philologically outline the process in which such a private writing has generated a modern literary genre called diaries. Then I will consider the editorial policy adopted by the anonymous compiler of Konjaku-monogatari-shū in using the legend of Tosa-nikki as a work dedicated to the dead child.