Reifying “Japanese postmodernity” : an exploration of the liminal in Haruki Murakami’s "A Wild Sheep Chase" and other works.

Abstract

The liminal is an idiosyncratic and prevalent feature of Haruki Murakami’s translated works. Its pervious quality is subtly embedded within the deconstruction of the language and amalgamation of several literary genres that includes mystery, fantasy and the Japanese I-novel. For the purpose of this paper, focus will be given to how the liminal manifests itself in "A Wild Sheep Chase" – the first in a series of his books that has been translated into English, along with "Dance Dance Dance," which is its sequel and "1Q84," Murakami’s latest work of fiction. Today, Haruki Murakami is a household name and remains proliferate among the Japanese public, while his works continue to receive positive reviews from overseas at the same time. But despite Murakami's unflagging popularity, the slew of criticisms he receives from the Japanese literati is also an undeniable recurrent trend. Building upon these contradicting receptions from amongst his readers, this paper aims to explore the possibilities of a unique “Japanese Postmodernity,” and how Murakami’s works has contributed to the reifying of this concept.