A modern shining princess. An intertextual analysis of the transformation of Princess Kaguya and the Okina from Taketori Monogatari in Reiko Shimizu's manga Kaguya Hime.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the intertextual relationship between the classic Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari and the Japanese comic (manga) Kaguya Hime that is based on the folktale. Focus lies in particular on examining how the change of main characters affects the narrative and the reader’s perception of it, as well as how the characters of Princess Kaguya – the shining princess – and the Okina – the bamboo cutter – have been transformed in the manga. While the folktale is narrated by someone not present at the time of the events and told from the perspective of the man who found the shining princess in the tale, the manga is both narrated by and told from the perspective of the princess. For the analysis,Genette’s concepts “voice”, “mood”, “paratext” and “hypo-/hypertext” are used in order to examine the difference between how the reader gains access to the thoughts of the central characters, Princess Kaguya in Taketori Monogatari and her corresponding character Akira in Kaguya Hime. A general intertextual analysis focusing on how Princess Kaguya and the Okina are represented in the manga is also performed. The results show that any changes to the characters in the manga are deliberately chosen in order to draw attention to certain characteristics that are often overlooked when analyzing the folktale. The manga was also found to be based on the original version of Taketori Monogatari, where the princess is portrayed as cold and alien, instead of modernized versiopns of the tale adapted and toned down for children, where the princess is gentle and demure. The results indicate that the author is aware of previous studies of Taketori Monogatari. This thesis will be a contribution to Japanese Literary Studies as well as other fields of study such as Intertextual Studies, Comics Studies, Folkloristic Studies and Gender Studies.