Timeless Todays in a Changing World: A Translation of Fujiwara no Nobuzane's Ima monogatari

Abstract:War tales, historical narratives, and setsuwa collections—both Buddhist and, to a lesser degree, those concerned with court life—are today the most famous prose genres from the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Common to many of these works is a preoccupation with decline, be it the corruption of Buddhist teachings or the loss of court culture. Fujiwara no Nobuzane's court-oriented setsuwa collection Ima monogatari (Today's Tales), however, takes a different tack. Rather than fetishize the past or bemoan the current state of affairs, it recounts a world in which the present is inevitably different from the past, but without presenting that as cause for sorrow or alarm. As a collection that displays its author's literacy, social connections, and sense of humor, Today's Tales thus offers a fresh perspective on the social and cultural changes of the mid-thirteenth century.