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Interrelation Between Natsume Sōseki's Bungakuron Interrelation between Natsume Sōseki’s Bungakuron (Theory of Literature and Other Critical Writings) and His Fiction Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Lu, Qiuyue Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 03/10/2021 01:54:37 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/632557 INTERRELATION BETWEEN NATSUME SŌSEKI’S BUNGAKURON (THEORY OF LITERATURE AND OTHER CRITICAL WRITINGS) AND HIS FICTION by Qiuyue Lu ____________________________ Copyright © Qiuyue Lu 2019 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2019 TI IE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Master's Committee, we certify that we have read the thesis prepared by Qiuyue Lu, titled Interrelation between Natswne Soseki ·s Bungakuron (Theory of Literature and Other Critical Writings) and his Fiction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfillingthe thesis requirement for the Master·s Degree. Date: lf:/21/11 rJam�·�Gabriel Date: /2�/ {j{ ifI I Final approval and acceptance of this thesis is contingent upon the candidate·s submission of the finalcopies of the thesis to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this thesis prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the Master's requirement. Date: LJ/Ja/197 James Phi p Gabriel I Master's Thesis Committee Chair Department o,{EastAsian Studies Page 2 Acknowledgement This thesis was brought to fruition only with the encouragement, guidance, inspiration, critique, and patience of many people. Those not named here please know, in other ways, the depth of my gratitude. I would like to thank my academic advisor Prof. Philip Gabriel, who granted me tremendous freedom to choose my research topic and flexibility to kindly allow me to reach out for my thesis. I could hardly manage to shape my thesis without Prof. Gabriel’s kind encouragements and patience with me during the process of building up my argument and research questions. I received huge help from my committee member Prof. Joshua Schlachect with my writings and the structure of my thesis. I also benefited a lot from Prof. Ragini Srinivasan from Department of English at the University of Arizona. Her guidance of the reading and analysis of literary and cultural criticism theory is of great importance for my thesis topic. This thesis bears traces of professors who early on encouraged my determination to do literary research, especially Prof. Noel Pinnington from the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Arizona. His encouragement gave me courage to reach out and attend conferences, from which I have received great suggestions and advice. My special thanks goes to Prof. Alisa Freedman from the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Oregon. The after-class little chats at Sophia University inspired me with my thesis, part of which generated a conference presentation. I could hardly develop this project without her kindness to introduce me to other potential resources along with her critical suggestions. Page 3 I feel honored to be guided by Prof. Michael Bourdaghs from the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. His recommendations of related reading materials are of great importance for my thesis. It is also my honor to communicate with Prof. John Nathan from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His advice on Sōseki’s literary theory and his fictions inspired me to compose Chapter 3 of my thesis. I could hardly make my arguments concise and focused without his critiques and comments. I also greatly appreciate that Southwest Conference on Asian Studies and the Annual Conference of Japanese Studies Association offered me a chance to present part of my thesis, where I received valuable advice and warm encouragements from other scholars other than the names I listed above. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my dear husband, Shuo Yang. I would never had the courage to start my Mater program without your encouragement and support. Thank you for keeping pushing me forward and letting me know you will always be there for me. Page 4 Table of Contents Illustration ......................................................................................................................... 6 Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1 Bungakuron: A Narrative of Natsume Sōseki’s Dual Identities ............... 28 Chapter 2 “Letter” as the Performance of Narrative: The Shift of Reader’s Position and Role in Kokoro ..................................................... 41 Chapter 3 Reader and Writer: “Tragic Pleasure” and “Insincere Moral Tragedy” .................................................... 63 Epilogue Bungakuron: an “Incomplete” work? ........................................................... 85 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 88 Page 5 Illustration All Japanese names are given surname first, unless the person’s work is in a European language. Quotations from translations reproduce the original punctuation and spellings, including the emphasis. Several of the translations I quoted from other critical sources are combined with my own translation to make up for the omissions. Page 6 Abstract QIUEYUE LU INTERRELATION BETWEEN NATSUME SŌSEKI’S BUNGAKURON (THEORY OF LITERATURE AND OTHER CRITICAL WRITINGS) AND HIS FICTION April 2019 The purpose of this study is to respond to the urgent call for the studies of Bungakuron (Theory of Literature, 1907), a massive theoretical project by Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916). I address the crucial question: how to approach Bungauron. Many scholars have attempted to delineate and elaborate this theoretical work through the treatment of it as a static entity. I argue that the interrelation between his fictional writings is the key to explore Sōseki’s theoretical project since it and his fiction cross- fertilize each other, which marks the duality of Bungakuron. In one way, Bungakuron informs and brackets his writings which establishes Sōseki’s fiction as experimental attempts and practices of the theory. In another way, Sōseki’s fiction in turn serves as a vehicle to transform this theory of literature into an analyzable and approachable being. That Bungakuron is dynamic enforces that the approach to it lies in its interaction with fiction. Through the conjunction of the three spheres — the author, Bungakuron and fiction — I seek to reexplore Sōseki’s literary landscape, as well as to enlarge the understanding of him as a complex and multitalented writer. Page 7 Introduction Bungakuron is a massive theoretical and it is composed of five books. It starts with a formula as follows: One can perhaps approach the form of literary substance with the expression (F+f). F here indicates impressions or ideas at the focal point of consciousness, while f signifies the emotions that attend them.1 The whole project could be generally divided into two parts with subtle yet crucial different concerns. In the first part, Sōseki focused on the interdependent definitions of F and f under scientific, historical, and literary context. In Book1 titled Classification of Literary Substance, following the psychologic principles of “consciousness,” he reclassified impressions into the sensation F, personification F, metaphysical F, and intellectual F. f stands for the fundamental emotive arousal signifier, such as terror or sympathy. In Book 2 Quantitative Change in Literary Substance, Sōseki discussed how the quantitative transformation, to be more specific, the linear transformation of F within the development of time, and the interdependent transformation of f would further affect literature. In this portion, he proposed personal F and Social/Historical F to question and deciphered the substantive issues of literary experiences. In Book 3, The Particular Character of Literary Substance, Sōseki proposed the Literary F and Scientific F that refer to the scientific and literary“truth” (shin) by conceptualizing them within the realm of science and literature respectively. He distinguished and noted how they differentiate 1. Natsume Sōseki, Theory of Literature and Other Critical Writings, edited by Michael Bourdaghs, Atsuko Ueda, Joseph A Murphy, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009, 52. I will investigate this opening sentence of Bungakuron later in Chapter 1. Page 8 under different discourses. Although Sōseki seemingly categorized different groups of F and f, his illustration is closely associated with the concept of “consciousness” and its perception in literary creations. In the ending of Book 3, Sōseki concluded that “one thing to keep in mind, though, is that what we are terming literary truth is something that undergoes change with time...all
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