@inproceedings{oai:kokubunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00002058,
 author = {Lvova, Irina and LVOVA, Irina},
 book = {国際日本文学研究集会会議録, PROCEEDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE LITERATURE},
 issue = {6},
 month = {Mar},
 note = {pdf, It is not man as a person who is of prime interest to the author of medieval prose; rather it is the world view, the spiritual world, and the system of complicated feudal relationships, in which man finds himself, that he describes. The method of medieval literature can be defined as a kind of conscious idealization. In other words, the author sheds light on the complicated feudal hierarchy, and describes how man should be and act. D.S. Likhachev, scholar of medieval Russian literature and member of the Academy of Sciences, has given the name "literary etiquette" to this method. According to this "literary etiquette" the lord acts in accordance with his "lordly "nature, the priest in accordance with his "priestly "nature, and the vassal and retainer behave according to the standard of vassal and retainer. All of them are valued in accordance with their rank and degree. In the same manner, women are valued in accordance with the medieval ideals of mothers, wives, and lovers.
Most of the great herōes of the Heike Monogatari fit in with this view. For example, Kiyomori's eldest son Shigemori is equipped with all the noble virtues of this feudal, Confucian world view--manliness, sincerity, faithfulness, filial affection, religioas devotion, respect, etc. The general vassal and warrior is often described from only one of these aspects: he can be courageous or he can sacrifice his life for his lord and represent the personification of loyalty and faithfulness. It seems that the medieval author did not take any interest at all in other aspects of their characters. The same can be said about the women. Thier highest virtues are motherly love and wifely chastity.
The character of the human being in the medieval prose is static, the movements of his inner world are lacking, and mental troubles are not mentioned. Even if there is some change in the hero's mental attitude, this is always something sudden, influenced by incidental outer circumstances. It is not the result of a gradual inner development.
However, the Heike Monogatari is clearly different from the medieval prose of other countries. It describes the spiritual world of man in a more realistic way, it communicates the contradictory nature of his spiritual world, and it attempts to show him as the psychologically very complicated creature that he is. This is explained, in the main, by the following 2 reasons. First, the Heike Monogatari was written in the 13th century when the unique Heian literature with its insuperable psychological analyses of man's spiritual world already existed. Second, the Heike Monogatari was written while the memories of the events were still fresh. All its herōes had been authentic living people, thus no fictitious characters created by the author. They were remembered at the time, as were their deeds. For this reason the character and the behaviour of the actors of the drama at times contradict the feudal morality, that is, the so-called "literary etiquette".
Other qualities of the Heike Monogatari, for which it deserves highest praise, are its humanism and the supreme value that it affords man. These appear especially in the objects of art, pōetry, music, dance, and other human accomplishments that are lauded in the work. Without distinction of higt and low, everyone has equally his own value. This is brought forth by the herose, for example, Tomoakira in the Tomoakira saigo chapter and other places.
By showing sympathy and commiseration for all people who suffer and go to ruin and death, even though they are without sin and without guilt, and by harshly condemning cruelty, unjustice, and craftiness, the Heike Monogatari is truly a democratic and humanistic work; thus, it belongs not only to the Japanese literature but constitutes an enrichment of the world literature.},
 pages = {108--124},
 publisher = {国文学研究資料館},
 title = {招待発表（1）　中世日本叙事文学における人間描写の原理と方法　―『平家物語』を素材として―},
 year = {1983},
 yomi = {ルヴフ, イリーナ}
}