Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki is a 2002 non-fiction book by Matthew Strecher, published by University of Michigan Press. It examines Haruki Murakami.
It was the first full length critical book about the author. [1]
Ann Sherif of Oberlin College stated that the work examines the interaction among history and literature with "great seriousness". [2] Sherif states that the work has "serious and sustained literary and cultural criticism." [3]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2024) |
The book initially examines Murakami's work through his historical context, then looks at ideological issues and issues of identity. [1]
The first two chapters have counterarguments against literature reviewers who perceived Murakami's works as too, in the words of Erik R. Lofgren of Bucknell University, "formulaic". [1]
The third chapter is a philosophical examination in the style of Jacques Lacan. [1]
The fourth chapter is a historiographical examination of Murakami's works and the political environment they were made in. [1]
"Historiography, Ideology, and the Politics of Representation" mainly discusses academic theories, though it also brings up Norman Mailer as an example of another writer who discusses current events. [2]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2024) |
Ted Goosen of York University wrote that the book's examination of Murakami in postmodernism "is especially convincing". [4] Citing how Murakami reacted to the Great Hanshin earthquake, the Japanese asset price bubble, and the Tokyo subway sarin attack, Goosen argued that the book's the assertion that Murakami's historical viewpoints are the least postmodern aspect of Murakami is something that "comes through most strongly on the final chapters". [5]
Lofgren wrote that how the book demonstrates how Murakami's work mainly highlights "intersubjectivity" rather than other classifications is "Perhaps" how the book is "most successful". [1] Lofgren also argued that the third chapter was, compared to the others, "perhaps the most stimulating". [1]
Sherif stated that the work demonstrates "much critical acumen". [6] She described the title as "playful". [2]
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the World Fantasy Award, the Tanizaki Prize, Yomiuri Prize for Literature, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Noma Literary Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Kiriyama Prize for Fiction, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, the Jerusalem Prize, and the Princess of Asturias Awards.
Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This style of experimental literature emerged strongly in the United States in the 1960s through the writings of authors such as Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis, Philip K. Dick, Kathy Acker, and John Barth. Postmodernists often challenge authorities, which has been seen as a symptom of the fact that this style of literature first emerged in the context of political tendencies in the 1960s. This inspiration is, among other things, seen through how postmodern literature is highly self-reflexive about the political issues it speaks to.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is a 1985 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It was awarded the Tanizaki Prize in 1985. The English translation by Alfred Birnbaum was released in 1991. A new translation by Jay Rubin will be released December 2024. A strange and dreamlike novel, its chapters alternate between two narratives—"Hard-Boiled Wonderland" and "The End of the World". Murakami later reworked the story into his 2023 novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls.
A Wild Sheep Chase is the third novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. First published in Japan in 1982, it was translated into English in 1989. It is an independent sequel to Pinball, 1973, and the third book in the so-called "Trilogy of the Rat". It won the 1982 Noma Literary Newcomer's Prize.
Dance Dance Dance is the sixth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. First published in 1988, it was translated into English by Alfred Birnbaum in 1994. The book is a sequel to Murakami's novel A Wild Sheep Chase. In 2001, Murakami said that writing Dance Dance Dance had been a healing act after his unexpected fame following the publication of Norwegian Wood and that, because of this, he had enjoyed writing Dance more than any other book.
Hear the Wind Sing is the first novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. It first appeared in the June 1979 issue of Gunzo, and in book form the next month. The novel was adapted by Japanese director Kazuki Ōmori in a 1981 film distributed by Art Theatre Guild. An English translation by Alfred Birnbaum appeared in 1987.
Foundations of Modern Arab Identity is a book-length study of the Nahda, or Arab Renaissance, by Arab American scholar Stephen Sheehi, which critically engages the "intellectual struggles that ensued when Arab writers internalized Western ways of defining themselves and their societies" in the mid-1800s.
Yoshihiko Kazamaru is a Japanese contemporary literary critic.
1Q84 is a novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–2010. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to notice strange changes occurring in the world. She is quickly caught up in a plot involving Sakigake, a religious cult, and her childhood love, Tengo, and embarks on a journey to discover what is "real".
Metamodernism is the term for a cultural discourse and paradigm that has emerged after postmodernism. It refers to new forms of contemporary art and theory that respond to modernism and postmodernism and integrate aspects of both together. Metamodernism reflects an oscillation between, or synthesis of, different "cultural logics" such as modern idealism and postmodern skepticism, modern sincerity and postmodern irony, and other seemingly opposed concepts.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the thirteenth novel by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Published on 12 April 2013 in Japan, it sold one million copies in one month.
The 1963/1982 Girl from Ipanema is a short story by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, written in 1982. The title references "The Girl from Ipanema", the famous Bossa nova song that was first released in March 1964 in the album Getz/Gilberto. The story follows the musings of an unnamed narrator as he contemplates the song, detailing one memory to the next. It culminates in his meeting with the metaphysical girl from the song, and his expression of longing for a union with her.
Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon is a 2003 book of literary criticism by Brian Rosebury about the English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien and his writings on his fictional world of Middle-earth, especially The Lord of the Rings. A shorter version of the book, Tolkien: A Critical Assessment, appeared in 1992. Rosebury examines how Tolkien imagined Middle-earth, how he achieved the aesthetic effect he was seeking, his place among twentieth century writers, and how his work has been retold and imitated by other authors and in other media, most notably for film by Peter Jackson.
Postmodern Metanarratives: Blade Runner and Literature in the Age of Image is a non-fiction book by Décio Torres Cruz published in 2014 by Palgrave Macmillan.
Somehow, Crystal is a Japanese novel by Yasuo Tanaka. Published in magazine form as the winner of the 17th Bungei Prize in 1980, it was also nominated for the Akutagawa Prize, and published in book form by Kawade Shobō Shinsha in 1981. A bestseller shortly after publication, the novel was controversial among contemporary critics for its apparent glorification of luxury consumption and its use of extensive annotations to identify desirable real-world products, brands, services, and locations encountered by the book's fictional characters. Academic critics have since identified Somehow, Crystal as an early and important example of Japanese postmodern literature. The book has been translated into Korean, German, and English, and a Japanese film adaptation was released by Shochiku in 1981.
"The Elephant Vanishes" is the last short story in Haruki Murakami's collection of 17 short stories also titled The Elephant Vanishes. First written in 1980–1991, the story "The Elephant Vanishes" was published in a variety of Japanese magazines. Later on, the short story was a part of a collection of stories that was published in 1993 as an English compilation before its publication in 2005 as the Japanese book "Zō no shōmetsu". Despite its intriguing title, the story has not received much critical attention in comparison to other short stories in the collection, although the story is relatable and explores themes that resonate with a broad audience.
Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words is a non-fiction book by Jay Rubin, published by Harvill Press in 2002.
The Japanization of Modernity: Murakami Haruki Between Japan and the United States is a non-fiction book by Rebecca Suter, published in 2008 by Harvard University Press.
The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries, and Global Cultures is a 1998 edited collection by D. P. Martinez published by Cambridge University Press.