Did the Novelist Minae Mizumura Achieve Her Literary Goal: A Corpus-Based Stylistic Analysis

Abstract

According to the "prediction processing theory" in cognitive neuroscience, the human brain represents information by minimizing prediction errors through continuous model updates. However, it remains unclear how such cognitive features can be quantitatively captured within the realm of literary creative activities. In this study, we examined whether the contemporary Japanese novelist, Minae Mizumura, achieved her goal of creating modern literature. Comparative analysis was conducted by utilizing a diachronic corpus of modern Japanese novels. It was found that Mizumura's novel The Light and Dark Continues, which she consciously wrote in the style of the novelist Soseki Natsume, closely aligns with her ideal of modern literature. Conversely, her subsequent works exhibit different tendencies. The results provide evidence that Mizumura intentionally employs the means of transformation to adapt to changes in the era and meet reader demands while inheriting the legacy of modern literature.

Editorial for the Special Issue: Predictive Mind: From Neuroscience to Humanities

“…Recently, there has been a remarkable development in text mining, or text analysis, which are methods to statistically analyze text data in natural language. Based on the theoretical perspective of predictive processing, Li et al (2023) attempt to analyze the works of the Japanese novelist, Minae Mizumura. Likewise, Yamamoto et al (2023) utilize these statistical methods to analyze the works of Edogawa Rampo, a well-known Japanese mystery novelist.…”