Hermeneutics of Ainu Oral Lieterature

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520208
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: SAKATA Minako 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 教務補佐員 (30573109)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: アイヌ / 口承文学 / エスノヒストリー / 歴史認識

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this project is to create a methodology to read Ainu oral literature. For this purpose, I picked up　recurrent motifs and themes and made a motif map, so that we can see a network of stories which we should refer to when reading a certain story or conceiving notions of motifs. As an example, I analyzed stories of village regeneration. A protagonist of those stories is an orphan　who regenerates parents’ village which once died out. There are three patterns in reasons of village extinction; night attack, jealousy and small pox. Analyzing the relations between those three motifs, or relations with other motifs, meaning of three motifs or village regeneration theme emerges. By this methodology, text analysis of Ainu oral literature based on its own context will become possible.

Free Research Field

口承文学研究