Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism and Haruki Murakami Novels

Freud's focus on repressed desires and childhood trauma, Jung's exploration of archetypes and the collective unconscious, and Lacan's emphasis on the role of language and three registers in shaping identity all offer distinct yet complementary views of the unconscious. This overview attempts to enrich our understanding towards psychoanalytic literary criticism and how literature reflects the complexities of the human condition.
The contemporary Japanese author Haruki Murakami's novels, including Kafka on the Shore, After Dark, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, were selected for their rich symbolic content that lends itself to Lacanian and Jungian analysis. By employing psychoanalytical frameworks, I attempted to explore the psychological struggles of Murakami's protagonists, particularly their feelings of alienation, incompleteness, and their quest for identity.
The application of Lacanian psychoanalysis to Murakami's novels centers on the notion of the "Other," a key concept in Lacan's theory, which is essential for the protagonists' process of self-realization. I also examined Jungian archetypes in relation to the protagonists' inner conflicts and journeys of individuation revealing how Murakami's characters struggle to reconcile their inner selves with societal pressures, globalization, and modernity.

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