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Work #773 · Late

Kokoro

Natsume Sōseki
1914 (serialized Asahi Shimbun) · Japanese
Modern Japanese novel · Late-Meiji / early-Taishō Japanese literature

Sōseki's 1914 modern Japanese novel of friendship, guilt, and the Meiji-Taishō transition

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Kokoro (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Non-Theistic
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Kokoro

The Meiji-Taishō transition (death of the Emperor 1912).

Space

Kokoro

Tokyo, the dying father's home, the lonely room.

Matter

Kokoro

The embodied bodies of teacher and disciple.

Observer

Kokoro

Sensei, the young narrator, K.

Energy

Kokoro

Energies of friendship, guilt, and isolation.

Information

Kokoro

The testament as confession.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Kokoro

Sōseki's Kokoro: a touchstone of modern Japanese literature; a meditation on the moral cost of the Meiji-Taishō transition.