LEADER 03683oam 22005894a 450 001 9910416520203321 005 20250705110025.0 010 $a9781929280070 010 $a1929280076 024 8 $ahttps://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.18278 035 $a(CKB)5590000000001737 035 $a(OCoLC)1184508227 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse92048 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6331482 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6743491 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL6743491 035 $a(ScCtBLL)02ef1ff7-ac55-40ef-a4f7-da6227e2581e 035 $a(OCoLC)1250422739 035 $a(ODN)ODN0006091171 035 $a(EXLCZ)995590000000001737 100 $a20011228d2002 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|||||||nn|n 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aDances with Sheep$eThe Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki /$fMatthew Carl Strecher 210 $d2020 210 1$aAnn Arbor, MI :$cCenter for Japanese Studies/University of Michigan,$d2002. 210 4$dİ2002. 215 $a1 online resource (xvii, 234 p.) 225 1 $aMichigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies ;$vv.37 311 08$a9780472902026 311 08$a0472902024 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 216-225) and index. 330 $aAs a spokesman for disaffected youth of the post-1960s, Murakami Haruki has become one of the most important voices in contemporary Japanese literature, and he has gained a following in the United States through translations of his works. In Dances with Sheep, Matthew Strecher examines Murakami's fiction-and, to a lesser extent, his nonfiction-for its most prevalent structures and themes. Strecher also delves into the paradoxes in Murakami's writings that confront critics and casual readers alike. Murakami writes of "serious" themes yet expresses them in a relatively uncomplicated style that appeals to high school students as well as scholars; and his fictional work appears to celebrate the pastiche of postmodern expression, yet he rejects the effects of the postmodern on contemporary culture as dangerous. Strecher's methodology is both historical and cultural as he utilizes four distinct yet interwoven approaches to analyze Murakami's major works: the writer's "formulaic" structure with serious themes; his play with magical realism; the intense psychological underpinnings of his literary landscape; and his critique of language and its capacity to represent realities, past and present. Dances with Sheep links each of these approaches with Murakami's critical focus on the fate of individual identity in contemporary Japan. The result is that the simplicity of the Murakami hero, marked by lethargy and nostalgia, emerges as emblematic of contemporary humankind, bereft of identity, direction, and meaning. Murakami's fiction is reconstructed in Dances with Sheep as a warning against the dehumanizing effects of late-model capitalism, the homogenization of the marketplace, and the elimination of effective counterculture in Japan. 410 0$aMichigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies 606 $aSocial Science / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General$2bisacsh 606 $aSocial Science$2bisacsh 606 $aSocial sciences 615 7$aSocial Science / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General 615 7$aSocial Science 615 0$aSocial sciences. 676 $a895.6/35 686 $aLAN000000$aSOC000000$aSOC008000$2bisacsh 700 $aStrecher$b Matthew$0891756 801 0$bMdBmJHUP 801 1$bMdBmJHUP 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910416520203321 996 $aDances with Sheep$91991638 997 $aUNINA