Fictional Narrator?
Here's a question: in the "Narration, Courtesy, and Names" section of his Introduction, Tyler asserts that
The narrator of Genji is acutely aware of social rank and assumes the reader is, too. She seems to be a gentlewoman telling a tale to her mistress . . . . The fictional narrator speaks from within this structure, and for her, good manners require conventional discretion.
(Emphasis added.)
I had assumed that there was no useful distinction to be made between the author and the narrator-I have the vague, probably-incorrect idea that this is a concept that developed along with the novel. Tyler, of course, knows a whole lot more about the literature of the period than I do; Seidensticker doesn't address it in his Introduction. Those of you who know more about Genji than I-on what does Tyler base his assertion that the narrator is fictional? Is this based on later portions of the text, or extra-textual considerations?