Dances with Sheep

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]

Contents

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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]

Reception

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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]

References

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  • Goossen, Ted (2003). "Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki". Pacific Affairs. 76 (2): 310–311 – via ProQuest.
  • Lofgren, Erik R. (2003). "Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki". World Literature Today. 77 (1): 99 – via ProQuest.
  • Sherif, Ann (2003). "Haruki Murakami and the Music of Words / Dances with Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki". The Journal of Japanese Studies. 29 (2): 368–372. JSTOR 25064410.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lofgren.
  2. ^ a b c Sherif, p. 371.
  3. ^ Sherif, p. 370.
  4. ^ Goosen, p. 310.
  5. ^ Goosen, p. 311.
  6. ^ Sherif, p. 372.

Further reading

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