Nihon ni okeru Chūgoku bungaku isan no keishō to shibutsuka. Heian shoki no chokusenshū o megutte (日本における中国文学遺産の継承と私物化 平安初期の勅撰集をめぐって)

Comparative studies of classical Japanese-Chinese literature made great efforts in elucidating various aspects of the influence and reception of Chinese culture on Japanese classics, thoroughly exploring the sources and quotations of Chinese classics found in many Japanese texts. However, until recent years the dominant perspective tended to clearly identify literary works in terms of sharp divisions, either Japanese or Chinese, and downgraded many Japanese works written in classical Chinese to mere imitations of Chinese models. More recently, Wiebke Denecke, among others, has stressed the need to revise the paradigm of contemporary national literary history, proposing the idea of a “shared literary heritage of East Asia,” based on the so-called cultural sphere of Chinese characters. However, the question of what exactly is meant by “literary heritage” has not yet been explored in depth. Based on previous research in the field of cultural heritage and heritage studies, this article proposes a reflection on the cultural processes of preservation, transmission and reuse of literature in East Asia. In particular, by analyzing the reception of Chinese classics, especially the citation and reuse of historical references as they appear in the poetic collections of the early Heian period, we can take a look at the cultural identity of Japanese elites vis-à-vis the Chinese “other,” and frame their self-consciousness as “literati” belonging to a transnational cultural sphere with Chinese characteristics. In this way, the study of “literary heritage” can serve as a basis for rethinking the common East Asian identity in the present by suggesting a new meaning for the study of classical literature for today's society.