Not All Wounds Gush Blood’: A Feminist Analysis of the Representation of Sex, Violence, and Gender in 1Q84

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, there has been an exponential growth in the consumption of Japanese fiction in translation in the Western literary world. It has been noted that this increase of interest in Japanese literature in translation may be attributed to author Haruki Murakami, beginning with his novel Norwegian Wood. Across his literary oeuvre, Murakami has faced a multitude of criticisms over his characterisation and objectification of women. This thesis explores how the male gaze operates within the novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and its effect on the representation of sex, violence against women and gender. It will do so by performing an active reading of the three volumes of 1Q84 to examine how the patriarchal influence of the author governs the perception of the male and female characters in the novel. This thesis aims to study the depiction of masculinity and patriarchal expectations of female sexuality, as well as to explore to what extent the women in the novel are sexualised and objectified by expressions of male fantasy coming from the author. It will conclude by arguing that the influence of the author’s male gaze directly impacts the understanding of both the women and men in the novel and that the objectification of women in literature remains a significant issue to the present day.