Japanese Studies | 2020 | Article The artist as a medium and the artwork as metaphor in Murakami Haruki’s fiction Rebecca Suter in: Japan Forum - 32 (3) visibility 11 | book 361–378 Pages | Article | Published Share: https://arx.onl/p/17589823878312 Download (0.429 MB) In many of Murakami Haruki’s works, the protagonist is in a profession close to the world of literature, although usually not exactly a writer. In their role as translators, advertising copywriters, journalists, or editors, Murakami’s protagonists are invested with the task of rearranging fragments of reality into narrative or artistic form, and/or of transmitting a message. This process is emotionally charged, often involving a supernatural dimension. While the process of reconstructing a narrative is largely unconscious, the narrator’s choice to act in this capacity is deliberate, and is presented as a way of fulfilling his responsibility towards others. I read this element as an expression of Murakami’s vision of the role of a writer in society. The figure of the artist-narrator takes an interesting form in Kishidanchō-Goroshi (Killing Commendatore, 2017), where the protagonist, a visual artist specialising in realistic portraits, decides to pursue a more creative approach to painting that leads him to a series of supernatural adventures. Through a close reading of the novel, this article investigates how Murakami’s portrayal of the artist as a shaman-like figure functions like a metaphor for the role of the literary author as a catalyst that enables people to connect with their inner self and with each other. ■ Last modified: 2025-10-12 17:33:06
The artist as a medium and the artwork as metaphor in Murakami Haruki’s fiction Rebecca Suter in: Japan Forum - 32 (3) visibility 11 | book 361–378 Pages | Article | Published Share: https://arx.onl/p/17589823878312