Literature Review of

Expounding Surrealism and Collective Unconscious in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the

Shore

Introduction

This research is an attempt to find out the elements of Surrealism and traces of Carl

Jung’s collective unconscious in Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s 2002 novel Kafka on the

Shore. In his novel Murakami blends two different and alternative plot lines: Kafka, a schizoid

character suffering from a deep Oedipal curse, runs away from home to embark upon a quest to

find his mother and sister and Nakata, an old man who never recovered from a bizarre childhood

affliction, finds his simplified life suddenly turns upside down. Haruki Murakami is one of the

contemporary postmodern writers who try to recreate the past rather than to reproduce it.

Objective

Haruki Murakami blends unsettling fantastical elements with realism to portray isolated

characters dealing with the absurdity of modern life. Murakami describes the “shore” in Kafka

on the Shore as the border between the conscious and the unconscious minds.

Surrealism interprets dreams as conduits for unspoken feelings and desires. Sigmund

Freud explained about this subconscious thoughts and repression. While the one of the

descendants of psychoanalytical theory, Carl Jung gives new interpretation to Freud’s repression

as collective unconscious and as projection. This study going to find present the interrelation of

surrealism or magic realism and collective unconscious and going to trace the elements of

surrealism and unconscious desires in the novel Kafka on the Shore.

Methodology

Qualitative research is defined as a form of inquiry that analyzes information and focuses

on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication. The researcher going

to analyze the theories called Surrealism and Psychoanalytical Theory and how these two are

interconnected through reading Kafka on the Shore, a novel wields magical realism, fantasy, and

metaphysics to explore the meaning of family, fate, life, and the subconscious.

Theoretical background of this research are Surrealism and Psychoanalytical Theory.

Moe specifically the researcher intends to focus on Carl Jung’s and Lacan’s interpretation of the

psychoanalysis.

Data collection

 The (Re)construction of Identity in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore by Abir

Ounissi and Marwa Guebailia

This dissertation, that is titled “(Re)construction of Identity in Haruki Murakami’s

Kafka on the Shore” explored the concept of identity construction in the Haruki

Murakami novel Kafka on the Shore. The aim of their research is to analyze the massive

influence of psychological factors such as the Oedipus complex, Dreams, and Trauma on

the protagonist’s attitude on daily obstacles. It analyzes the effect of traumatic

experiences on Nakata Satoru’s Identity. Hence, it helps my research to explore the

context of psychological effects in the novel.

 Magical realism and the search for identity in the fiction of Murakami Haruki by

Stretcher

Haruki Murakami, in the novel vividly describes the events by using magic realist

element and in doing so he also takes us to the subconscious of the character’s mind and

their dreams. This study explored the magic realism and how the inner repressed feeling

in unconscious mind expressed through alter ego and alternative world and many

symbolisms signified magical realism.

 Privileging Oddity and Otherness: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the

Shore by Rasleena Thakur and Vani Khurana

This research given vivid Japanese writing styles under which how the novel

Kafka on the Shore used Irreducible Element, Phenomenal World, Unsettling Doubts,

Merging Realm and Disruption of Time, Space and Identity. In addition, it reveals how

Kafka constructing his identity upon the disruption gone through.

 Oedipus: Freud’s repression or Jung’s projection? by Robert A. Dielenberg

Myth called Oedipus Complex is interpreted by both Freud and Jung. But Jung’s

narrative of Oedipus complex and unconscious desires in “projection” which is different

from Freud’s “Repression”. Since the Oedipal Curse is important element in Kafka on the

Shore, understanding the notion of Unconscious (Id or Collective unconscious) is needed

to analyze the novel.

Conclusion

Haruki Murakami, a valuable name in Japanese contemporary literature, is an

International successful writer that sells one million copy in the first day of publication.

#Murakami is well-known for his sense of alienation and his existential style. Murakami’s works

are eccentric, magical and out of the realm of the ordinary. Kafka on the Shore is akin to a

winding staircase leading to different and multifarious interpretations, mesmerizing its readers

with its loose ends and complex portrayals. This study is to examine the writing technique and to

explore the trending genre called Surrealism and its deeds.

 Works Cited

Dielenberg Robert A. “Oedipus: Freud’s repression or Jung’s projection?”, 1997.

Murakami, Haruki. Kafka on the Shore. Translated by Philip Gabriel, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

Ounissi, Abir and Marwa Guebailia. The (Re)construction of Identity in Haruki Murakami’s

Kafka on the Shore, Jul-2020.

Strecher, Matthew. “Magical Realism and the Search for Identity in the Fiction of Haruki

Murakami.” Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, Summer 1999, pp. 263-298.

Thakur, Rasleena and Vani Khurana. Privileging Oddity and Otherness: A Study of Haruki

Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in

Humanities, 2020.