is paper examines the erotic book entitled Onna enshi kyokun kagami, producedin the second half of the eighteenth century in the Kamigata area. efirst section explores archives where original copies are held and determinesthe bibliographical identity of this book. e second section analyses its intertextualnature, and shows that what we are confronted with is a pastiche oferotic rewritings of different source texts and styles. e first intertextual layeris identified in the minimal parody of the title, of the layout and of selectedportions of the popular conduct book for women, Onna Genji kyokun kagami(first published in 1713). The parodic rewriting of sections from anotherconduct book, the selective appropriation of the style used in guides for theinterpretation of dreams and the verbatim quotation of long passages fromthe medical text Koso myoron constitute further intertextual levels. e finalsection moves below the intertextual surface, and reflects upon how Onnaenshi kyokun kagami combines the educational dimension of a non-narrativemanual for sexual hygiene with an entertaining dimension that derives fromthe presence of overtly humorous narratives. One of the main arguments ofthe paper is that, in contrast to other similar works produced by TsukiokaSettei, this text does not constitute a polemical counter-discourse to the moralmessage conveyed by conduct books for women; rather, it complements themoral knowledge on how to behave within the household with more practicalinformation about how to conduct a successful sexual life.
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