{{Short description|Literary form in Japanese literature}} {{Italic title}} {{For|the light novel series|Monogatari (series){{!}}''Monogatari'' (series)}} {{More footnotes|date=June 2014}} [[File:Murasaki Shikibu.jpg|thumb|Murasaki Shikibu, author of ''Genji monogatari'' (''The Tale of Genji'')]]

{{Nihongo|'''''Monogatari'''''|物語||{{IPA|ja|monoɡaꜜtaɾi|}}|lead=yes}} is a literary form in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to epic literature. ''Monogatari'' is closely tied to aspects of the oral tradition, and almost always relates a fictional or fictionalized story, even when retelling a historical event. Many of the great works of Japanese fiction, such as the ''Genji Monogatari'' and the ''Heike Monogatari'', are in the ''monogatari'' form.

== History == The form was prominent around the 9th to 15th centuries, reaching a peak between the 10th and 13th centuries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Pettersson |first=Anders |date=2006 |chapter=Introduction: Concepts of Literature and Transcultural Literary History |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2muIgoqGR1kC |editor-last=Pettersson |editor-first=Anders |title=Literary History: Towards a Global Perspective |volume=1: ''Notions of Literature Across Times and Cultures'' |location=Berlin; New York |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Literary_History/2muIgoqGR1kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=monogatari 13] |isbn=9783110189322 |oclc=1030572651}}</ref> ''Monogatari'' was the court literature during the Heian era and also persisted in the form of archaic fiction until the sixteenth century.<ref name=":0" /> The ''Fūyō Wakashū'' (1271) indicates that at least 198 ''monogatari'' existed by the 13th century. Today, only 24 exist.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Tale of Eleventh-Century Japan: Hamamatsu Chunagon Monogatari |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Idr_AwAAQBAJ |translator-last=Rohlich |translator-first=Thomas H. |year=2014 |orig-year=1983 |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=[https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Tale_of_Eleventh_Century_Japan/Idr_AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover 4 (Introduction)] |isbn=9781400856688 |oclc=884013397}}</ref>

==Genres== The genre is subdivided into multiple categories depending on their contents:

===''Denki-monogatari''=== Stories dealing with fantastical events.

{{columns-list| * ''Taketori Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'') * ''Utsubo Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Hollow Tree'') * ''Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai''}}

===''Uta-monogatari''=== {{Main|Uta monogatari}}

Stories drawn from poetry.

{{columns-list| * ''Heichū Monogatari'' (''Tales of Heichū'') * ''Ise Monogatari'' (''Tales of Ise'') * ''Yamato Monogatari'' (''Tales of Yamato'') }}

===''Tsukuri-monogatari''=== Aristocratic court romances.

{{columns-list| * ''Genji Monogatari'' (''The Tale of Genji'') * ''Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari'' * ''Ochikubo Monogatari'' (''The Tale of Ochikubo'') * ''Sagoromo Monogatari'' * ''Torikaebaya Monogatari'' * ''Tsutsumi Chūnagon Monogatari'' * ''Yoru no Nezame'' (''Wakeful Nights'') }}

===''Rekishi-monogatari''=== {{Main|Rekishi monogatari}}

Historical tales that emerged during the late Heian period, flourishing until the medieval age.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Japan at War: An Encyclopedia|last=Perez|first=Louis G.|date=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598847413|location=Santa Barbara, CA|pages=464}}</ref> These narratives were commonly written in ''kanbun'' (hybrid form of Chinese) or ''wabun'' (Japanese).<ref name=":1" /> Two of the most notable of this monogatari included the ''Eiga Monogatari'' and ''Ōkagami,'' which both narrated the story of Michinaga, the renowned Fujiwara regent.<ref name=":1" />

===''Gunki-monogatari''=== {{Main|Gunki monogatari}}

Military chronicles and stories about war.

{{columns-list| * ''Gikeiki'' (''The Tale of Yoshitsune'') * ''Heiji Monogatari'' (''The Tale of Heiji'') * ''Heike Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Heike'') * ''Hōgen Monogatari'' (''The Tale of Hōgen'') * ''Soga Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Soga Brothers'') * ''Taiheiki'' (''Chronicle of Great Peace'') }}

===''Setsuwa-monogatari''=== Anecdotal tales.

{{columns-list| * ''Konjaku Monogatarishū'' (''Tales of Times Now Past'') * ''Uji Shūi Monogatari'' (''A Collection of Tales from Uji'') }}

===''Giko-monogatari''=== Pseudo-classical imitations of earlier tales.

{{columns-list| * ''Matsura no Miya Monogatari'' * ''Sumiyoshi Monogatari'' }}

==Influence== When European and other foreign literature later became known to Japan, the word ''monogatari'' began to be used in Japanese titles of foreign works of a similar nature. For example, ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is known as ''Nito Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|二都物語}}), ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as ''Sen'ichiya Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|千一夜物語}}) and more recently ''The Lord of the Rings'' as ''Yubiwa Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|指輪物語}}) and ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' as ''Arabama Monogatari'' ({{lang|ja|アラバマ物語}}).

==See also== * ''Fūyō Wakashū'', a 13th-century collection of poetry from various ''monogatari'' sources, many of which are no longer extant * ''Konjaku Monogatarishū'', a collection of Heian period Buddhist folklore * ''Mumyōzōshi'', a 13th-century literary critique on ''monogatari'', many of which are no longer extant

== Citations == {{Reflist}}

== References == * {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Frédéric |first=Louis |year=2002 |orig-year=1996 (in French as ''Le Japon : Dictionnaire et Civilisation'') |title=Monogatari |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/japanencyclopedi0000loui_t6g9 |chapter-url-access=registration |encyclopedia=Japan Encyclopedia |url=https://archive.org/details/japanencyclopedi0000loui_t6g9 |url-access=registration |edition=English |translator-last=Roth |translator-first=Käthe |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |page=657 |isbn=9780674007703 |oclc=48943301 |access-date=2 January 2025}} * {{NKBJ}} * {{NKBD}}

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Category:Monogatari Category:Japanese Buddhist literature Category:Culture of Japan Category:Japanese chronicles