Property and sociological knowledge: Natsume Soseki and the gift of narrative.

This paper explores Natsume Soseki's 1912 novel, Until the Spring Equinox and Beyond, as a continuation of Soseki's experimental project to produce a scientific theory of literature. It looks in particular at Soseki's encounter with Western sociology and the role that private property systems played in it. It argues that Soseki's theory and practice of literature can be understand as attempts to formulate a critique of sociological knowledge from the stance of literature, including a critique of the ideologies of possessive individualism. In particular, it examines parallels between Soseki's novel and Mauss's theory of the gift, as well as Derrida's critique of Mauss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]