@inproceedings{oai:kokubunken.repo.nii.ac.jp:00002608,
 author = {Wallace, John R and WALLACE, John R},
 book = {国際日本文学研究集会会議録, PROCEEDINGS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE LITERATURE},
 issue = {22},
 month = {Oct},
 note = {pdf, Memoir literature of the Heian period was produced by women writers awkwardly positioned within the imperial court they served. Though they were critical for the production of art that bolstered the aristocracy's selfconscious effort to advance and enhance Yamato culture, they were shutout from the political center of that same society. Their private anxiety deriving from a polygamous marriage system and a further anxiety deriving from this unsecured public position set the scene for a literature that focused on dissatisfaction and a sense of isolation.
While there are important similarities between Sarashina nikki written by Sugawara Takasue's Daughter and Kagerô nikki written by her aunt Michitsuna's Mother, if we consider these texts in terms of the protagonist's attitude towards her fate in life we can determine interesting differences. In the final analysis, the protagonist of Kagerô nikki appears to consider her fate to be fixed. She speaks discontentedly about this certainty. The protagonist of Sarashina nikki, on the other hand, even if she complains about the course of her life as well, holds to a belief that some agent may yet reverse her fortunes. Thus the two memoirs afford fairly different reading impressions, with Kagerô nikki sounding the more bitter and Sarashina nikki sounding more naive and optimistic.
This difference can be seen in the texts’ treatment of "borders" as well. In Kagerô nikki we have several instances of a protagonist that goes to the edge (Jse: hate) of a known territory, contemplates the border of that territory but does not in fact cross it. In Sarashina nikki there are a number of journeys, physical and spiritual which either cross boundaries or intend to do so. It is this latter text which embraces hope in a way that the former does not.
My essay will explore hate as a key term in Kagerô nikki and travel as a key motif in Sarashina nikki in order to illustrate the difference that these memoirs evidence towards borders and the value of crossing them.},
 pages = {90--98},
 publisher = {国文学研究資料館},
 title = {研究発表　王朝女流日記における境界と心のバランス},
 year = {1999},
 yomi = {ウォーレス, ジョン}
}