This article reconsiders the Kokin Wakashū and Makura no Sōshi not in terms of genre or influence, but as related practices through which memory was institutionalized, managed, and reproduced within the Heian court. Focusing on the selection, arrangement, and memorization of poems in the imperial anthology, alongside the scenes of recollection and episodic composition depicted in Makura no Sōshi, the article examines the interaction between memory formed under institutional demands—what may be termed “commanded memory”—and mnemonic expression shared through repetition, here described as “song-based memory.” By tracing how these different modes of memory intersect and are reconfigured across poetic and prose forms, the article clarifies the mechanisms by which court literature functioned as a system for organizing and reproducing cultural memory
Research papers (publications of university or research institution)
