Western Style in Murukami

 One thing I have appreciated in this class is reading Murakami's works alongside the influences he may have drawn on while writing. Whether these influences are overt or subtle, finding the threads of connection between these works gives us insight into how Murukami wants to incorporate Western influence into his novels.

Although his novels are undoubtedly Japanese, from the settings to the cultural values, to the characters themselves, by far the largest role that Western influence has in Murukami's works is upon its style. Whether that comes from imitating the hard-boiled detective genre, to mystery, to the bright satirical comedy of authors like Kurt Vonnegut and Haruki Murakami, Murakami borrows from the authors he admires and incorporates them into a Japanese tradition. It reminds me of how Japanese animation studios adapted and borrowed from American animation techniques, technologies, and styles while simultaneously birthing something novel and unmistakably Japanese. With the rise of global modernity, what has been made possible is this recombination, fusion, and invention of styles and admixtures between cultures. In addition to the style and form of Murakami's writings being influenced by Western media, the character traits of "boku" have also been tampered with. In the Wild Sheep Chase, Boku's critical and stubbornness seem to align with that of Phillip Marlowe from The Long Goodbye. One of the negative instances of Murakami's favorite authors' influence on his writings is the centralization of male perspectives and characters, again, very commonplace in genres like traditional detective mysteries and older works from America and Europe. I wish that Murakami could have admired more female writers or books with female protagonists like Austen, Woolf, or George Eliot. 

- Katherine Chen