In this Book

summary
Swords, Oaths, and Prophetic Visions investigates some of the most historically important political and social issues raised by the Genpei War (1180-1185). This epic civil conflict, which ushered in Japan’s age of the warriors, is most famously articulated in the monumental narrative Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike). Elizabeth Oyler’s ambitious work lays out the complex interconnections between the numerous variant texts of the Heike and the historical events they describe. But Oyler’s innovative methodology also brings other texts and genres—the Gikeiki, the Soga monogatari, the Azuma kagami, and pieces from the kōwakamai (ballad-dramas) repertoire—into her analysis. Rather than concentrating on individual texts, Oyler focuses on the inter-textual relationships within this larger body of narrative and drama and the collective role of these works in creating and disseminating stories about some of the Genpei War’s most contentious events. In so doing, she works toward a new understanding of the underlying cultural problems of which these tales are symptomatic and which they attempt to address.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Frontmatter
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. -
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-x
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Note on Conventions and Sources
  2. pp. xi-
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter One The Heike monogatari and Narrating the Genpei War
  2. pp. 1-28
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Two Minamoto Yoritomo: Dreams from Exile
  2. pp. 29-59
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Three Kiso Yoshinaka: Petitioning Hachiman
  2. pp. 60-85
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Four Yoshitsune at Koshigoe: Fealty Oaths, Fall from Grace
  2. pp. 86-114
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Five The Soga Brothers: Swords and Lineage
  2. pp. 115-137
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Conclusion Warrior Rule in Medieval Japan
  2. pp. 138-150
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix A The Hōgen and Heiji Uprisings
  2. pp. 151-152
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix B Genealogical Charts of the Seiwa Genji and the Itō
  2. pp. 153-155
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix C Texts and Genres
  2. pp. 156-158
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 159-200
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Glossary
  2. pp. 201-204
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 205-212
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 213-218
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.