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Abstract

This thesis examines the narratological function of motherhood in Kagerō nikki (The Kagerō Diary) ca. 974 by Michitsuna no Haha 道綱母 or Michitsuna’s Mother (935–995?), focusing on how maternal identity is produced, negotiated, and reimagined within the text. Rather than attempting to define motherhood as a fixed social category, this study asks what motherhood does i.e., how it operates relationally, how it structures emotional experience, and how it shapes both subjectivity and kinship networks in the Heian period. Through close readings and lexical tracing of selected episodes and linguistic instances, this thesis demonstrates that “motherhood” in Kagerō nikki is not merely a biological status but a dynamic relational position. The author-narrator emerges as a subject whose identity is inseparable from her maternal designation; her narrative voice is structured through her role as “mother.” At the same time, the text reveals a diffusion of maternal functions across multiple figures, including birth parents and extended kin. These layered configurations complicate modern assumptions about mothers and family structure and highlight the flexibility of maternal roles within Heian aristocratic society. By foregrounding topics of care, authority, emotional attachment, and maternal absence, this study argues that motherhood functions as a shifting constellation of relationships rather than a stable identity. In doing so, this thesis situates Kagerō nikki within broader discussions of gender, relational identity, and kinship. Ultimately, this thesis proposes that motherhood in Kagerō nikki operates as a narratological and relational framework that shapes the text’s emotional and structural coherence, offering a new perspective on maternal presence in Heian vernacular writing.