Kilka uwag o kotach w (nie tylko) klasycznej literaturze japońskiej na kanwie książki Anny Zalewskiej O czarnym kocie cesarza i inne opowieści. Koty w dawnej literaturze japońskiej

Abstract

This article discusses Anna Zalewska’s book O czarnym kocie cesarza i inne opowieści. Koty w dawnej literaturze japońskiej [On the Emperor’s Black Cat and Other Tales: Cats in Old Japanese Literature] published in 2022 by the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków. The book is probably the first publication outside of Japan that so extensively presents Japanese felinographic topics from the perspective of literary and cultural studies. This study is an anthologized monograph, which treats cats in Japan in a cross-sectional manner (historically, genologically, semantically) up to the beginning of the Meiji period. The article emphasizes that through the stories about cats included in the book, one can also learn much about the people and the times in which they lived. Many of the literary works selected show representations of the cat that we already know, but also those that we have not yet known. This certainly enriches the way we look at these animals that live so closely with humans. The critical overview of the sources undoubtedly confirms the author’s claim set out in the preface that cats appear to be relatively common in old Japanese literature.