The shadow of Japanese psyche : journey to the unconscious in Murakami Haruki's 1Q84

Abstract

This dissertation conducts a critical analysis of the representation of the personal and collective unconscious of Japan in Murakami Haruki’s 1Q84. In particular, employing the concepts of Carl G. Jung and Jacques Lacan, this dissertation examines how Murakami showcases the shadow of Japanese psyche and society by reimagination of history. It contends that Murakami seeks to revisit the past in 1Q84 to reflect on history, make sense of the present and instill reflections on the System and moral complexity. Echoing the individuation process put forward by Jung, Murakami brings the repressed Japanese unconscious to consciousness with a view to integration with the same. Through fictional writing, Murakami embarks on a project of reconnecting Japanese to their past and history, which forms part of the Lacanian unconscious through the structure of language. Significantly, 1Q84 self-reflexively embodies Murakami’s vision of fiction and his literary world. It engages in dialogues with other literary world, and explores how fictional writing opens up new horizon and shapes history in an interweaving manner, thereby challenging the boundary between fiction and history. Through his literary world, Murakami travels beyond Japan, as he speaks to the world through the experience of the Japanese shadow and unconscious.