에도시대 여성 전기 작품 연구

Study of the Biographical Works of Women during the Edo Period: Revisiting their Material Value as Textbooks and Literary Works

江戸時代に刊行された女性の伝記は女性教育の｢教材｣であり、｢読み物｣でもあった。いわゆる女性用の教訓書の中で、中国の『列女伝』を模倣することから始まった江戸時代の女性の伝記作品は次第に日本社会の価値観念に基づいて｢鑑｣となる女性に注目するようになる。庶民が文化、文学享受の主体となりつつあった時代の動きに合わせ階層や貴賤に関係なく模範になる女性を集め、庶民の女性を読者とした点は大きな意義がある。しかしながら一貫して女性を｢愚かな者｣とみる女性観も窺われる。 ｢愚かな者｣と見なされた女性を教育するため、物語や伝説の中からも ｢鑑｣となるような女性が選別されたが、袈裟御前もその一人である。本稿では袈裟御前の物語が往来物や仮名草子でどのように伝承され中世の仏教説話から近世の女性の伝記へと生まれ変わったのか、またその過程で｢貞女｣としての人物像を形成し強化していくことについても考察した。江戸時代の伝記作品が見い出した｢貞女｣の袈裟御前は近代の伝記作品でも語り継がれるため今後は比較考察へと進みたい。

The biographical works of women published during the Edo period served as textbooks and literary works to educate women. The biographical works of women, which began by imitating the biographical works of exemplary women in China, had gradually come to pay attention to exemplary women based on the Japanese notion of value. Keeping pace with the change of the times when ordinary people began to become the subject of culture and literature, they took the ordinary women as readers, collecting exemplary women, regardless of their class and rank, which is very significant. However, there was also a view of women as ‘foolish’ beings from beginning to end. The women depicted in narratives and legends were also selected, who could be the models of these ‘foolish’ women. This study examines how the stories of Kesagozen were handed down and born again as the biographical works of women in the modern era from medieval Buddhist tales and how the human image of ‘貞女 (teijo)’ was formed and strengthened in the process. Teijo and Kesagozen rediscovered in the biographical works of women were continuously depicted in modern biographical works as well. Thus, the subsequent study will comparatively discuss them.