Juxtaposing the Realistic and the Speculative Elements in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore

Abstract

In contrast to a study by Virginia Yeung of Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84, by analysing how it has “manipulated embedding to strengthen his themes and to create a complex novel world”, this paper discusses the realistic and the speculative elements in his Kafka on the Shore (426). Itattempts to pinpoint in the novelthe elements or “spots of time”, as it were, where the demarcation between what is real and what is magical fades away (Wordsworth 208-18). Adding to her conclusion of Julie Wittes Schlack’s review of the novel, she suggests that “Murakami creates a magical reality in which past and present, dreams and reality merge like the sides of a Mbius strip". However, in this book, Murakami expands his reach by dipping into Greek mythology, personal and national identity, Christianity, and literary criticism". The article also demonstrateshow the blending or mixing of the two genres, the realistic and the magical, provides the main characters with new perspectives fortheir lives, the people they encounter, and the world they inhabit (2005).