Le Kojiki, une Énéide longtemps oubliée ?

Abstract

Comparing two ostensibly disparate texts should shed light on the place held by the Kojiki in Japanese literary history. The Kojiki has at times been described as a chronicle, which it is not; as a collection of myths, which is true only of the first volume; and as a clumsy commissioned text, which merits discussion. In fact, like the Aeneid, the Kojiki legitimated a new ruling power at the end of a civil war by recounting the origins of Japan. Like Virgil’s poem, the Kojiki is an epic written by a man of letters, skilfully drawing on contrasts and echoes between the Age of the Gods and that of men. Its elliptical style was out of synchronization with the tastes of Ancient Japan’s Chinese-influenced elites. Its belated rediscovery did not fully restore its literary credentials.

Keywords

• Kojiki
• Aeneid
• Japanese Literature
• Ancient Japan