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基本説明
New in paperback. Hardcover was published in 2009. "A work of elegant and faithful translations of some of Sōseki's major critical writings, together with an introduction of considerable erudition. It will go a long way toward correcting the excessively narrow view of Sōseki long held in Japan studies." -Richard Calichman, City College of New York.
Full Description
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.
Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction: Natsume Soseki and the Ten-Year Project 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
