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 Matthew
Carl Strecher |
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Subtitle:
The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki
As a spokesman for disaffected youth of the post-1960s, Murakami
Haruki has become one of the most important voices in contemporary
Japanese literature, gaining a following in the United States
through translations of his works. In Dances with Sheep Matthew
Strecher examines Murakami's fiction--and, to a lesser extent,
his nonfiction--for its most prevalent structures and themes.
Strecher also delves into the paradoxes in Murakami's writings
that confront critics and casual readers alike. Murakami writes
of "serious" themes yet expresses them in a relatively
uncomplicated style that appeals to high school students as
well as scholars; and his fictional work appears to celebrate
the pastiche of postmodern expression, yet he rejects the effects
of the postmodern on contemporary culture as dangerous.
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Strecher's methodology is both historical
and cultural as he utilizes four distinct yet interwoven approaches
to analyze Murakami's major works: the writer's "formulaic"
structure with serious themes; his play with magical realism;
the intense psychological underpinnings of his literary landscape;
and his critique of language and its capacity to represent realities,
past and present. Dances with Sheep links each of these approaches
with Murakami's critical focus on the fate of individual identity
in contemporary Japan. The result is that the simplicity of
the Murakami hero, marked by lethargy and nostalgia, emerges
as emblematic of contemporary humankind, bereft of identity,
direction, and meaning. Murakami's fiction is reconstructed
in Dances with Sheep as a warning against the dehumanizing effects
of late-model capitalism, the homogenization of the marketplace,
and the elimination of effective counterculture in Japan.
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2001
Paperback
ISBN 1-929280-07-6
University of Michigan/Monographs in Japanese Studies |
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Order
at amazon.co.uk |
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