Paper short abstract:

Sōseki's first publications are deeply affected by pictorial and textual relations. Not just the description of images, but also the illustrations from artists were important. Especially the motifs and sketches by Hashiguchi Goyō can be seen as an indicator for circulated images in the Meiji period.

Paper long abstract:

The exhibition "Natsume Sōseki no bijutsu sekai 夏目漱石の美術世界. Natsume Soseki and Arts" (2013) brought attention to the deep connection of Natsume Sōseki's 夏目漱石 (1867-1916) works and visual culture. However, regardless of this relationship between literature and art, especially the book design and the illustrations that were included in the first published texts and editions have received only scant scholarly attention so far.

Furthermore, many magazine and newspaper instalments of Sōseki's novels were paired with opening or mid-illustrations, varying by the "Tōkyō Asahi Shimbun" and the Ōsaka version. As well, the book publications were purposefully designed and partly illustrated, showing hence a network of artists Sōseki collaborated with. Considering Sōseki's own interest in art, underlined by the fact that he himself designed his own novel "Kokoro" こゝろ (Heart, 1914), the work process with illustrators was communicative and discursive.

In my paper I will trace Sōseki's relationship with artists, particularly with Hashiguchi Goyō 橋口五葉 (1881-1921), thereby showing a collaboration that initially resulted in mosaic-like illustrations but later shifted to elaborate book cover designs, paralleled by a change in the texts. With this in mind, the anthology "Yōkyoshū" 漾虚集 (Drifting in Emptiness, 1906) is a work par excellence for textual, visual, and material culture studies. The book contains seven short stories and is illustrated by Goyō and Nakamura Fusetsu 中村不折 (1866-1943) using different styles for each text. This results in visual expressions that reflect the plot and themes of Sōseki's text on the one hand, and mostly the western art of the late 19th and early 20th century on the other. By referring to well-known contemporaneous books and art magazines like "The Studio" I will trace pictorial motifs and patterns, arguing that circulated material was locally adapted likewise to address a Japanese readership. Finally, I suggest that this collaboration of author and artists aimed to create an object with a shared idea of Aesthetics as well as the concept of 'Gesamtkunstwerk'.