Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Secretary-General	K Anbazhagan
Leader in Lok Sabha	T. R. Baalu[1]
Founded	1949
Headquarters	Anna Arivalayam, Anna Salai, Chennai – 600018
Newspaper	Murasoli & The Rising Sun
Labour wing	Labour Progressive Federation
Ideology	Social Democratic Populist
Political position	Centre
Alliance	National Democratic Alliance (1999–2004) United Progressive Alliance (2004–present)
Seats in Lok Sabha	18 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha	7 / 245
Seats in Legislative Assembly	31 / 234
Election symbol
Website
http://www.dmk.in
Politics of India Political parties Elections

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (lit. "Dravidian Progress Federation"^[2]) (founded 1949, Madras Presidency, India) is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam (known as Justice Party till 1944) headed by Periyar. Since 1969, DMK is headed by M Karunanidhi, the prior Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. DMK holds the distinction of being the first party other than the Indian National Congress to win state-level elections with clear majority on its own in any state in India.^[3]

History[link]

Justice Party[link]

DMK traces its roots to the South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party) formed in 1916, by P. Thiyagarayar, Dr. P.T. Rajan, Dr. C. Natesa Mudaliar and few others. The Justice Party, whose objectives included social equality and justice, came to power in the first General Elections to Madras Presidency in 1920.^[4] E. V. Ramasami Naicker, a popular Tamil leader of the time, who had joined Indian National Congress in 1919, to oppose what he considered as the Brahminic leadership of the party.^[5] Naicker's experience at the Vaikom Satyagraha made him to start the Self-Respect Movement in 1926 which was rationalistic and "violently anti-Brahminic".^[6] He quit Congress and in 1935, he joined the Justice Party. In the 1937 elections, the Justice Party lost and the Indian National Congress under C. Rajagopalachari ("Rajaji") came to power in Madras Presidency. Rajaji's introduction of Hindi as a compulsory subject in schools led to the anti-Hindi agitations, led by Periyar and his associates.

Dravida Kazhagam[link]

In August 1944, Periyar created the 'Dravida Kazhagham' out of the Justice Party and the Self-Respect Movement at the Salem Provincial Conference.^[7] Dravidar Kazhagam insisted on an independent nation for Dravidians called Dravida Nadu consisting of areas that were covered under Madras Presidency.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam[link]

Over the years, many disputes arose between Periyar and his followers. In 1949, several of his followers led by C. N. Annadurai, decided to split from Dravidar Kazhagham, after an aged Periyar married a young woman Maniammai and anointed his young wife to act as his successor to lead the party, superseding senior party leaders. Until then E. V. K. Sampath, the nephew of Periyar, was considered as his political heir.^[8]

Annadurai, on 17 September 1949 along with V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, K.A. Mathiazhagan, K. Anbazhagan, E. V. K. Sampath, and thousands of others in Robinson park in Royapuram in Chennai announced the formation of the DMK.

MGR's entry[link]

M. G. Ramachandran, K. A. Mathialagan, C. N. Annadurai, Rajaji and M Karunanidhi

In 1953, actor M. G. Ramachandran ("MGR") joined the DMK, popularised the party flag and symbol which at that time stood for secession from India by showing it in his movies. MGR was a member of the DMK, and he was seen as an icon of the DMK and spread its message through films like Anbe Vaa.^{[citation needed]} DMK entered the electoral fray rather unsuccessfully in 1957 with even senior leader V. R. Nedunchezhiyan losing from Salem although M Karunanidhi won after initially having opposed all-Indian government and later supporting only those parties which promised to help its secession from India cause.^{[citation needed]}

1960s[link]

DMK leaders K. A. Mathialagan, V. P. Raman, C. N. Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi with Rajaji

Annadurai wanted a separate Dravida Nadu but the DMK changed its stance with the Chinese invasion in 1962 and suspended its demand for the length of the war and supported India raising funds for the war. When the war ended, nationalistic feelings were so strong that DMK gave up the separate Dravida nation idea.

The Anti-Hindi agitations of 1965 forced the central government to abandon its efforts to impose Hindi as the only official language of the country; still Hindi imposition continued as Indian government employees are asked to write as much as 65% of the letters and memoranda in Hindi.

In 1967, DMK came to power in Madras province 18 years after its formation and 10 years after it had first entered electoral politics. This began the Dravidian era in Madras province which later became Tamil Nadu.

V.R. Nedunchezhiyan(left) with M. Karunanidhi (center) and M. G. Ramachandran (right)

In 1969, party general secretary and founder, CN Annadurai died. After his death, there came the power tussle between M Karunanidhi and V. R. Nedunchezhiyan. Most of the elected MLAs of DMK, including leaders like Mathialagan, Nanjil Manoharan and the celluloid hero MGR favoured Karunanidhi as CM in preference to Nedunchezhiyan, the Senior leader after Anna. To pacify V. R. Nedunchezhiyan a new post called party president was created for M Karunanidhi and V. R. Nedunchezhiyan was the post of general secretary . MGR was appointed as the Treasurer of the Party.

During the Indian President election, there was divided opinion between the leaders of Indian National Congress. Though the party nominated Dr.Sanjiva Reddy as the Official Candidate, the then Prime Minister, Mrs.Indira Gandhi had suddenly switched her allegiance to Dr.V.V.Giri, the Opposition-sponsored Candidate. She had also advised all party elected members to vote according to their conscience. Dr.V.V.Giri was elected as the President of India with the support of Mrs.Indira Gandhi. This has resulted in the split of Congress Party and in October 1969. Senior Leaders like Morarji Desai, Athulya Ghosh, Kamarajar, S K Patil and Nijalingappa on the one side as Congress (Organisation) and Indira Gandhi, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Jagjivan Ram, C Subramaniam on the Other Side as Congress (Indira). The DMK, led by Mr.Karunanidhi took a stance to support Mrs.Indira Gandhi in certain reforms like abolition of privy purse, nationalisation of Banks.

In 1971 election, the DMK fought in alliance with Congress (Indira)and the Opposition alliance which consisted of the two Senior National Leaders, Rajaji and Kamarajar was termed as a strong alliance and was widely supported by Media to re-capture power in Tamil Nadu. However, the DMK emerged victorious with a vast majority of 183 seats out of 234 and Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi becoming the chief minister for second time. The Opposition Grand alliance could capture only 25 seats.

Karunanidhi's presidency[link]

MGR's exit[link]

M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) who was a popular actor and the then party treasurer had played a vital part in popularizing the party's ideologies.but The political feud between MGR and the party president Karunanidhi emerged as an aftermath of the latter calling himself "Mujib of Tamil Nadu". In 1972, MGR called for a boycott of the party's General Council. With the crisis falling into call for corruption probe by MGR, he was eventually suspended from the General Council. Thus emerged a new party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).^[9]

Post-MGR[link]

In April 1974, the DMK government brought in a resolution in the House urging the Centre to accept the Rajamannar Committee recommendations on state autonomy and amend the Constitution of India to pave the way for a true federal system.

In 1977, DMK lost the Assembly elections to MGR's AIADMK, and stayed out of power in the state till 1989.^[10] After MGR's death in December 1987, AIADMK split into two factions between Janaki (MGR's wife) and Jayalalithaa. DMK returned to power in 1989 State assembly elections and Karunanidhi took over as chief minister in January 1989. Subsequent to this, the LTTE "sent personal emissaries to Karunanidhi for seeking his active support in their battle against the IPKF".^[11]

Then in 1991 elections are arranged to be held for both State and Central government. In 21 May 1991 Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai in an election campaign meeting. It was later found the he has been killed by suicide bomber from LTTE, citing IPKF atrocities^[12] in Srilanka as a reason.

This led to a sympathy wave in favor of AIADMK–Congress alliance and the DMK was deprived of any seats in the Parliament. This brought about the rise of a new political rival J.Jayalalithaa for the DMK. The AIADMK won the 1991 state Assembly elections and Jayalalithaa took over as the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

In the 1996 state elections, DMK came to power on strength of corruption charges against J.Jayalalithaa and the alliance with Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), headed by G.K. Moopanar and supported by cine actor Rajinikanth. However, in 2001, the AIADMK, on strength of a strong alliance and the incumbency factor against DMK, came back to power in the state assembly elections.

In the 2004 parliamentary elections, DMK formed an alliance with Congress, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and swept a grand Victory, the alliance winning all 40 seats including Pondicherry. This enabled 7 ministerial posts in the Central government and influential power to DMK.

Two years later in 2006, the same alliance won in the state assembly elections and the DMK, for the first time formed a minority government in the state with help from Congress. Mr. M Karunanidhi become the Chief Minister of the State for the fifth time. The DMK-Congress alliance was also successful in the 2009 parliamentary elections, securing a majority of the Lok Sabha seats.

Post 2009, the party was mired in a series of corruption charges linked to its telecom ministers in Parliament, including the 2G Spectrum scam. In the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election, 2011, the party lost power to the AIADMK-DMDK alliance and J.Jayalalithaa once again took over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 2011. Fledgling party Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK), presided by cine actor Vijayakanth became the main opposition party in the state, pushing DMK to third place.

Party Symbol[link]

The party's election symbol is the sun arising from between two mountains, called the Rising Sun.

Election history[link]

See pdf for summary. DMK's worst poll performance ever in this state was registered in 1991 and its peak in 1971.

Madras State[link]

Tamil Nadu[link]

Pondicherry[link]

Media[link]

The DMK party runs two newspaper, one each in English and Tamil, namely "The Rising Sun" (weekly journal) and "Murasoli" (daily) respectively.^[19] Kalaignar TV is a channel started on September 15, 2007 and managed by Kanimozhi and Dayalu Ammal, the daughter and wife of Karunanidhi. The sister channels of Kalaignar TV are Isaiaruvi (music channel), Seithigal (news channel), Sirippoli (comedy channel), Kalaignar Asia and Chitram (Cartoon channel).^[20]

Controversies[link]

Indra Gandhi dismissed the Karunanidhi government in 1976 based on charges of possible secession and corruption. The DMK government has been indicted by the Sarkaria commission for corruption in allotting tenders for the Veeranam project.^[21] In 2001, the former chief secretary, K.A. Nambiar, and a host of others were arrested on charges of corruption in the construction of flyovers in Chennai.^[22] Karunanidhi and DMK party members were also charged under Sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the IPC, and Section 13 (2) read with 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, but no prima facie evidence was found against him and his son M K Stalin.

Connections with LTTE[link]

The interim report of Justice Jain Commission, which oversaw the investigation into Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, indicted Karunanidhi for abetting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).^[23] The interim report recommended that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the DMK party be held responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers. The final report contained no such allegations.^[24]

In April 2009,in an interview to NDTV, Karunanidhi made a controversial remark stating that "Prabhakaran is my good friend" and also said, "India could not forgive the LTTE for assassinating Rajiv Gandhi".^[25]

Allegations of nepotism[link]

M.K. Stalin, son of Karunanidhi

DMK has been accused by opponents, by some members of the party, and by other political observers of trying to promote nepotism and start a political dynasty along the lines of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Vaiko, who quit the DMK, has been the most vocal. Political observers say that Vaiko was sidelined as he was seen as a threat to M.K. Stalin and other family members.

Karunanidhi's nephew, the late Murasoli Maran, was a Union Minister; however, it has been pointed out that he was in politics long before Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister in 1969. He was arrested several times, including in the Anti-Hindi agitations in 1965. He was asked to contest the by-election for South Madras in 1967 and the nomination papers were signed by Rajaji, Annadurai and Mohammed Ismail (Quaid-e-Millath), demonstrating that his political career was not built entirely on his relation to Karunanidhi.^[26]

Many political opponents and DMK party senior leaders have been critical of the rise of M. K. Stalin in the party. But some of the party men have pointed out that Stalin has come up on his own. He has faced a lot of hardship since 1975, when he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and was beaten up in jail so brutally during the Emergency that a fellow DMK party prisoner died trying to save him.^[27] Stalin was an MLA in 1989 and 1996 when his father Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister, but he was not inducted into the Cabinet. He became Chennai's 44th mayor and its first directly elected mayor in 1996. It was only in his fourth term as MLA that he was made a Minister in the Karunanidhi cabinet and then in 2009 was made the Deputy Chief Minister.

Karunanidhi has been accused of helping Murasoli Maran's son Kalanidhi Maran, who runs Sun Network, India's second largest television network. According to Forbes, Kalanidhi is among India's richest 20, with $2.9 billion.^[28] Again commentators say that he raised himself into the position on his own merit and even Karunanidhi's sons have achieved nothing compared to him which has been a cause of friction between them. His channels have been the mouth organ of the DMK party (until recent time) and balanced the Jaya TV of the AIADMK.

Another son of Maran's, Dayanidhi Maran, is a former Union Minister for Communications and IT portfolio, not broadcasting ministry, which is responsible for TV networks. Dayanidhi Maran was withdrawn from the IT and Communications portfolio at Center (he was a Union Minister for IT and Communications) because Dinakaran (a newspaper run by the Maran brothers) had shown the result of a public poll which read Dayanidhi Maran as the successor to Karunanidhi. This created a bloody violence in the Madurai branch of Dinakaran office, causing the death of three employees. This was again seen as a result of the dynasty controversy in Karunanidhi's family.

It has been pointed out that Karunanidhi has hesitated to take action against his erring family members, though he has expelled his other sons M.K. Muthu and M.K. Azhagiri when they were guilty of wrong doing^[29] and similarly removed Dayanidhi Maran from the position of Union Minister (because of the reason stated in the previous paragraph).

Karunanidhi is also accused of allowing Azhagiri to function as an extraconstitutional authority in Madurai.^[30] The Dinakaran newspaper case was handed over to the CBI. But the District and Sessions court acquitted all the 17 accused in that case.^[31] So far, the case has not been appealed in a higher court to identify and punish the perpetrators of the crime.

His daughter Kanimozhi is a member of Rajya Sabha post.

Kanimozhi, the daughter of Karunanidhi

Alleged involvement in 2G Scam[link]

One of the party's TV channel stations, Kalaignar TV was raided by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers in connection with the 2G Spectrum scam on 19 February 2011.^[32] Karunanidhi's daughter MK Kanimozhi arrested and sent to Tihar jail on 20-05-2011 for alleged kickbacks in 2G Scam. She has been arrested for the illegal transfer of money to the DMK's official channel Kalaignar TV. DMK MP A Raja is the prime accused in 2 G scam and sent to Tihar Jail.

Kanimozhi was subsiquently released on bail on November 29, 2011 ^[33]

See also[link]

• List of political parties in India
• Politics of India

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The official party website
• Election reports by EC
• Manisegaran on Dravida Movement
• Dravida Munnetra Kalagam at wordpress.com

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Dayanidhi Maran (Tamil: தயாநிதி மாறன்) (born December 5, 1966, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India) is a member of parliament in India’s 15th Lok Sabha from Chennai Central constituency and Additional Deputy Leader of DMK. He was also the Minister for Textiles in the Union Cabinet, and has also served as the as the Minister for Communications and Information Technology before that. He resigned from the position of Minister for Textiles in July 2011.

He is the son of Late Mr. Murasoli Maran and the grandnephew of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M Karunanidhi. He is the younger brother of Kalanidhi Maran, the founder and managing director of Sun Network.

He is an Amateur Radio Operator. His HAM Radio Callsign is VU2DMK. He had his Schooling with Don Bosco, Egmore, Chennai. He received initial education in Tamil Nadu and graduated in Economics from Loyola College in Chennai. He also attended the “Owner /President Management Programme” (OPM) from Harvard Business School (USA).

Contested and been elected twice as member of parliament from Central Chennai Constituency in Tamil Nadu as a DMK party candidate. His winning margin was of over 1,34,000 votes, i.e., 62% in the total votes polled.

He was appointed as Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology on 26 May 2004. For a quite brief time he was away from ministry. Later he was appointed as Minister for Textiles during the year 2009.

As of 2004^[update], he is an Indian millionaire having declared assets of 16 million Indian rupees (approx. 360,000 US dollars).

On 7 July 2011, Maran quits office as CBI implicated him in the 2G Scam.^[1]

Achievements[link]

During his tenure as IT and Telecommunication Minister the call rates of mobiles and landlines were drastically reduced which in-turn influenced the growth of subscriptions than ever before.^[2]

Controversies[link]

• Maran has been accused of receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs 700 crore from Maxis Communications. In reply, he has issued a legal notice to Tehelka the news magazine which have published the report.^[3]
• According to the CBI, he had mis-utilized 323 telephone connections from BSNL during his tenure as the Telecom minister, and caused the Government of India a huge loss.
• CBI is going to start fresh probe if Dayanidhi Maran had role in Aircel/Maxis Communications deal, CBI's investigations so far have been limited to decisions taken after 2007 by Maran's successor A Raja.^[4][5]
• Maran has been accused of demanding the Tatas 33.33% shares from the Tata-Rupert Murdoch DTH project (Tata Sky) for the Sun Network. In reply, he has asked the news papers which have published the report to apologize and threatened to go to court seeking compensation of Rs. 1 crore for personality damage from The New Indian Express, Dinamani and Jaya TV.
• In May 2007 the Tamil daily newspaper, Dinakaran, owned by his brother Kalanidhi Maran, published a survey whose results declared that 70% of the people of Tamil Nadu favoured Karunanidhi's younger son M.K. Stalin as his likely successor as against 2% for Stalin's elder brother M.K. Azhagiri. This resulted in M.K.Azhagiri's supporters burning down the office of Dinakaran in the city of Madurai that resulted in the death of 3 employees and injuries to several others. This resulted in Karunanidhi removing Maran from his position as Union Minister. The Prime Minister refused to dismiss him, and the situation was not resolved till Maran himself resigned on 13 May.^[6]
• Maran resigned from Ministry of Textiles after CBI accused Maran, a former telecom minister, of forcing the promoter of Chennai-based telecom company Aircel to sell his firm to Malaysian firm Maxis in 2006.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile on NIC
• QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - VU2DMK
• National Institute of Amateur Radio

Natsume Sōseki
Natsume Sōseki in 1912
Born	(1867-02-09)9 February 1867 Tokyo, Japan
Died	9 December 1916(1916-12-09) (aged 49) Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Writer
Genres	novels, short stories, poetry
Notable work(s)	Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat
Influenced virtually all subsequent Japanese novelists, Karatani Kōjin

Natsume Sōseki (夏目 漱石^?, February 9, 1867 – December 9, 1916), born Natsume Kinnosuke (夏目 金之助^?), is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period (1868–1912). He is best known for his novels Kokoro, Botchan, I Am a Cat and his unfinished work Light and Darkness. He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, Chinese-style poetry, and fairy tales. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000 yen note.

Early years[link]

Born as Natsume Kinnosuke in the town of Babashita in the Edo region of Ushigome (present Kikui, Shinjuku), Natsume began his life as an unwanted child, born to his mother late in her life, forty years old and his father then fifty-three.^[1] When he was born, he already had five siblings. Having five children and a toddler had created family insecurity and was in some ways a disgrace to the Natsume family.^[1] In 1868, a childless couple, Shiobara Masanosuke and his wife, adopted him until the age of nine, when the couple divorced.^[1] He returned to his family and was welcomed by his mother although regarded as a nuisance by his father. His mother died when he was fourteen, and his two eldest brothers died in 1887, intensifying his sense of insecurity.^{[citation needed]}

Natsume attended the First Tokyo Middle School (now Hibiya High School),^[2] where he became enamored with Chinese literature, and fancied that he might someday become a writer. His desire to become an author arose when he was about fifteen when he told his older brother about his interest in literature.^[1] However, his family disapproved strongly of this course of action, and when Natsume entered the Tokyo Imperial University in September 1884, it was with the intention of becoming an architect. Although he preferred Chinese classics, he began studying English at that time, feeling that it might prove useful to him in his future career, as English was a necessity in Japanese college.^[1]

In 1887, Natsume met Masaoka Shiki, a friend who would give him encouragement on the path to becoming a writer, which would ultimately be his career. Shiki tutored him in the art of composing haiku. From this point on, he began signing his poems with the name Sōseki, which is a Chinese idiom meaning "stubborn". In 1890, he entered the English Literature department, and quickly mastered the English language. Natsume graduated in 1893, and enrolled for some time as a graduate student and part-time teacher at the Tokyo Normal School.^{[citation needed]}

In 1895, Natsume began teaching at Matsuyama Middle School in Shikoku, which became the setting of his novel Botchan. Along with fulfilling his teaching duties, Natsume published haiku and Chinese poetry in a number of newspapers and periodicals. He resigned his post in 1896, and began teaching at the Fifth High School in Kumamoto. On June 10 of that year, he married Nakane Kyoko.^{[citation needed]}

Natsume Sōseki's lodgings in Clapham, South London

In the United Kingdom, 1901–1903[link]

In 1900, the Japanese government sent Natsume to study in Great Britain as "Japan's first Japanese English literary scholar".^[3] He visited Cambridge and stayed a night there, but gave up the idea of studying at the university because he could not afford it on his government scholarship.^[4] He studied instead at University College, London (UCL). He had a miserable time of it in London, spending most of his days indoors buried in books, and his friends feared that he might be losing his mind.^[5] He also visited Pitlochry in Scotland.

He lived in four different lodgings, only the last of which, lodging with Priscilla and her sister Elizabeth Leale in Clapham (see the photograph), proved satisfactory. Five years later, in his preface to Bungakuron (The Criticism of Literature), he wrote about the period:

The two years I spent in London were the most unpleasant years in my life. Among English gentlemen I lived in misery, like a poor dog that had strayed among a pack of wolves.^[6]

He got along well with the one Leale sister, who shared his love of literature (notably Shakespeare—his tutor at UCL was the Shakespeare scholar W. J. Craig^[7]—and Milton) and spoke fluent French, much to his admiration. The Leales were a Channel Island family, and Priscilla had been born in France. The sisters worried about Natsume's incipient paranoia and successfully urged him to get out more and take up cycling.

Despite his poverty, loneliness, and mental problems, he solidified his knowledge of English literature during this period and returned to Japan in 1903.

After his return to the Empire of Japan, he replaced Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) at the First Higher School, and subsequently became a professor of English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, where he taught literary theory and literary criticism.^{[citation needed]}

Literary career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Natsume's literary career began in 1903, when he began to contribute haiku, renku (haiku-style linked verse), haitaishi (linked verse on a set theme) and literary sketches to literary magazines, such as the prominent Hototogisu, edited by his former mentor Masaoka Shiki, and later by Takahama Kyoshi. However, it was the public success of his satirical novel I Am a Cat in 1905 that won him wide public admiration as well as critical acclaim.^[8]

He followed on this success with short stories, such as Rondon tō ("Tower of London") in 1905 and the novels Botchan ("Little Master"), and Kusamakura ("Grass Pillow") in 1906, which established his reputation, and which enabled him to leave his post at the university for a position with Asahi Shimbun in 1907, and to begin writing full-time. Much of his work deals with the relation between Japanese culture and Western culture. Especially his early works are influenced by his studies in London; his novel Kairo-kō was the earliest and only major prose treatment of the Arthurian legend in Japanese.^[9] He began writing one novel a year until his death from a stomach ulcer in 1916.

Obverse of a 1984 series 1000 Japanese yen banknote

Major themes in Natsume's works include ordinary people fighting against economic hardship, the conflict between duty and desire (a traditional Japanese theme; see giri), loyalty and group mentality versus freedom and individuality, personal isolation and estrangement, the rapid industrialization of Japan and its social consequences, contempt of Japan's aping of Western culture, and a pessimistic view of human nature. Natsume took a strong interest in the writers of the Shirakaba (White Birch) literary group. In his final years, authors such as Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and Kume Masao became close followers of his literary style.^{[citation needed]}

Major works[link]

Natsume's major works include:

See also[link]

• Anglo-Japanese relations
• Japanese literature
• List of Japanese authors
• Fusanosuke Natsume – Natsume's grandson
• Minae Mizumura – finished Natsume's last, unfinished novel, Light and Darkness

Sources[link]

• Bargen, Doris D. Suicidal Honor: General Nogi and the Writings of Mori Ogai and Natsume Sōseki. University of Hawaii Press (2006). ISBN 0-8248-2998-0
• Brodey, I. S. and S. I. Tsunematsu, Rediscovering Natsume Sōseki, (Kent: Global Oriental, 2000)
• Doi, Takeo, trans. by W. J. Tyler, The Psychological World of Natsume Sōseki. Harvard University Asia Center (1976). ISBN 0-674-72116-0
• Gessel, Van C. Three Modern Novelists: Soseki, Tanizaki, Kawabata. Kodansha International, 1993
• Keene, Donald. Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature of the Modern Era: Fiction, Chapter 12. 2nd Revised Edition, Columbia University Press, 1998.
• Milward, Peter. The Heart of Natsume Sōseki: First Impressions of His Novels. Azuma Shobo (1981). ASIN: B000IK2690
• Olson, Lawrence. Ambivalent Moderns: Portraits of Japanese Cultural Identity. Savage, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield (1992). ISBN 0-8476-7739-7
• Ridgeway, William N. A Critical Study of The Novels of Natsume Sōseki, 1867–1916. Edwin Mellen Press (January 28, 2005). ISBN 0-7734-6230-9
• Yu, Beongchoeon. Natsume Sōseki. Macmillan Publishing Company (1984). ISBN 0-8057-2850-3

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Natsume Sōseki

	Novels portal
	Japan portal

• natsumesoseki.com
• Natsume Sōseki at かまくら GreenNet, the website of Kamakura City
• Natsume Souseki at Meisaku Live
• Video: House of Ogai Mori & Soseki Natsume
• Natsume Souseki at Amazon Kindle Store
• Works by Natsume Sōseki at Project Gutenberg
• Sōseki page including links to the entire text of Kokoro
• Natsume Sōseki on aozora.gr.jp (complete texts with furigana)
• Tohoku University: Natsume Soseki Library
• Natsume Sōseki's grave