Haruki Murakami's postmodern condition: representing the postmodern in the translated novel

Abstract

This thesis offers a close reading of some of the texts of Haruki Murakami through a postmodern lens, offering a new perspective on how the Japanese writer corroborates Lyotard’s notion of the ‘Postmodern Condition’ and in turn offers a new postmodern space that is neither exclusively Anglo-European or Asian, but encompasses both. Through exploration of both Eastern and Western postmodern thought, this thesis traces where Murakami, as a translated writer, can be conceptually situated, without subjecting him to a western orientalist prejudice. It aims to show that postmodernity cannot be pinpointed to either a specific spatial or temporal location, but is a paradigm that evolves in, and impacts on, all first world societies. Analysis of Murakami’s postmodern perspectives on identity, connection, and working life offers a more substantial understanding of a first world postmodern mood which is central to his writing. Representation of the postmodern female with Murakami’s work is also examined, and suggests how feminism and postmodernism interact and mutually inform each other’s perspectives. Finally a comprehensive comparison with Franz Kafka details how, despite their ix geographical and chronological differences, both writers reinforce elements of Lyotard’s notion of the coexistence of modernism and postmodernism. In conclusion, this thesis attempts to deepen understanding of Murakami and of postmodernism as an intellectual and cultural phenomenon