Theory of Literature and Other Critical Writings

by Natsume Sōseki, Joseph Murphy (Editor), Michael Bourdaghs (Editor)

Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) was the foremost Japanese novelist of the twentieth century, known for such highly acclaimed works as "Kokoro," "Sanshiro," and "I Am a Cat." Yet he began his career as a literary theorist and scholar of English literature. In 1907, he published "Theory of Literature," a remarkably forward-thinking attempt to understand how and why we read. The text anticipates by decades the ideas and concepts of formalism, structuralism, reader-response theory, and postcolonialism, as well as cognitive approaches to literature that are only now gaining traction.

Employing the cutting-edge approaches of contemporary psychology and sociology, Soseki created a model for studying the conscious experience of reading literature as well as a theory for how the process changes over time and across cultures. Along with "Theory of Literature," this volume reproduces a later series of lectures and essays in which Soseki continued to develop his theories. By insisting that literary taste is socially and historically determined, Soseki was able to challenge the superiority of the Western canon, and by grounding his theory in scientific knowledge, he was able to claim a universal validity.

Genres: Japanese Literature, Japan, Essays, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2008

About the author

Natsume Sōseki (夏目 漱石), born Natsume Kinnosuke (夏目 金之助), was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note. In Japan, he is often considered the greatest writer in modern Japanese history. He has had a profound effect on almost all important Japanese writers since.

Reviews

[Brašna · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a whole, this is a great excerpt of Soseki's essays and theories. You ought to skip some sections, though. Some literary theory is hard to understand but it gives a great perspective on who Soeeki was as a scholar. And he was a human scholar if nothing else.

[Slater Henatay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if his thesis is correct, but it is interesting and it should be analyzed in Western schools of literary thought more than it is.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a particularly light, easy book to read. Although the concepts discussed are not too difficult, and there is not that much reference to contemporary work, there are points where Souseki’s goal of writing objectively and philosophically about what literary is creates a very exacting, detailed and dry writing style. However, it is still an incredibly interesting work of theory that should not be overlooked.

Although some of the elements in Souseki’s writings appear slightly outdated (unsurprising considering the time elapsed), the true excellence of this work is that many of his ideas anticipate modern theories of literature that are now the norm. Reading this work makes you realise how, despite the ubiquity of theory, those in the English profession rarely explain theory from the ground up, or go over fundamental topics like how to approach literature, the question of universality, what literature’s aim is and what literary criticism is. While Souseki doesn’t yet talk distinctly about feminism or Marxist readings, his idea of reading against the grain of popular English interpretation can be seen to foreshadow elements of post-colonial theory or of critical lenses entirely. His attention to trying to analyse why certain cultural conditions cause people in one culture to have a different reading of a text than in another echoes the current practice now common in schools, universities and literary criticism of deconstructing previous approaches to a text in different times and places.

This book is only excerpts from his writing, and if anything it was slightly frustrating to miss out on some chapters that sounded quite interesting. However, the editors did make very clear where they had taken out material, and it may be that the material removed was overly laborious, because, as the editors say in their preface, Souseki was struggling to express concepts for which there was no adequate theoretical vocabulary at the time.

Worth a read for Souseki fans, people interested in the history of theory, those with an interest in non-Western literary theory, or with Japanese literature in general.

[E. G.]

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Natsume Sōseki and the Ten-Year Project, by Michael K. Bourdaghs, Joseph A. Murphy, and Atsuko Ueda

Part One: Excerpts from Theory of Literature

--Preface
--Book 1. Classification of Literary Substance
--Book 2. Quantitative Change in Literary Substance
--Book 3. The Particular Character of Literary Substance
--Book 4. Interrelations Between Literary Substances
--Book 5. Group F

Part Two: Other Writings on Literary Theory (1907--14)

--"Statement on Joining the Asahi"
--"Philosophical Foundations of the Literary Arts"
--"Preface" to Literary Criticism
--"The Merits and Flaws of -isms"
--"My Individualism"

Notes
Index