Reflections On "Violence" In Japanese Society A New Comment On Haruki Murakami's Fictions

"Violence" is a key concept in Haruki Murakami's works.Those which are considered as threats to individual soul and value are brought into the scope of "violence";therefore the meaning of "violence" becomes quite broad in his works. However,the "systematic violence" that is embodied in the history and reality of Japanese society is his focus concern.Murakami's creation starts from individual's desperation and depression due to the coming of "Advanced capitalist society",and then analyses the violence in this social system deeply.Such idea practises in the works including Hear the Wind Sing,Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Dance Dance Dance.Murakami pays particular attention to the exploitation of ego and the depression of eros which are forced by Japanese-style "Advanced capitalist society".Besides exposing the violence in the contemporary Japanese society,Murakami seeks the origin of the violence in the whole progress of modernization in Japan with unique way of thinking.On the other hand,he plays as a writer who reflects on history actively in the works including A Slow Boat to China,A Wild Sheep Chase,Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.In his opinion,the violence in the contemporary Japanese society is traced to the same origin of Japanese modern history and closely related to the dark and cruel war history. The images of the pre-war and post-war in Japan seem entirely different;however, after stripping the outside,the essence of ignoring individual soul and value remains the same.The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is an epitomized piece of work in Murakami's creation system.Two aspects of his ideas mentioned above combine together in this fiction.The present and the history are no longer distinct from each other.The history is included in the present and the present is under the control of the history.In the meanwhile,his critique talent is extended to the field of mass media.He notices that the media plays a role as an "accomplice" to the systematic violence in Japan such particular society.Thus,Murakami's unique social historical criticism is fully displayed in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.This thesis is based on the whole creation system of Haruki Murakami,taking his master pieces including Hear the Wind Sing,Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World,Dance Dance Dance,A Slow Boat to China,A Wild Sheep Chase,Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle as studying objects.The special feature of criticism system in Murakami's fictions is shown by analyses and interpretations centering on the theme "reflections on 'Violence' in Japanese society" with the methods of text analysis and culture studies.