Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’

Studies on Japanese masculinity have been consistently and strongly engaged with R. W. Connell’s (1995) theory of the gender order and hegemonic masculinity, with the Japanese salaryman being identified as a masculine ideal by a number of scholars. Within this context there has been an emphasis on t...

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Main Author: Laura Emily Clark
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Japan Foundation, Sydney 2017-06-01
Series:New Voices in Japanese Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://newvoices.org.au/volume-9/heteroglossic-masculinity-in-haruki-murakamis-a-wild-sheep-chase/
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author Laura Emily Clark
author_facet Laura Emily Clark
author_sort Laura Emily Clark
collection DOAJ
description Studies on Japanese masculinity have been consistently and strongly engaged with R. W. Connell’s (1995) theory of the gender order and hegemonic masculinity, with the Japanese salaryman being identified as a masculine ideal by a number of scholars. Within this context there has been an emphasis on the plurality of masculinities present within society, and the instability of masculine ideals in gendered performances across different contexts. I argue, however, that there is still space to engage more deeply with Bakhtin’s concept of heteroglossia in order to reveal a multitude of different masculine voices present within a single gendered performance. Studies on the literature of Haruki Murakami have had only limited engagement with issues of masculinity, therefore this paper also demonstrates the potential for analysing the voices of male characters in fiction through masculinity theory. Here, I undertake a discourse analysis of three male characters in Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase [1982], proposing that although these characters are strongly engaged and invested in the monoglossic salaryman masculinity, there is always a heteroglossia of masculine performances present. This suggests that plurality is not actually an exception, or evidence of a failure to comply, but rather an ordinary aspect of gendered performance.
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spelling doaj.art-31d3a51e0cf84d2481e5b51f061266c92022-12-22T00:51:53ZengThe Japan Foundation, SydneyNew Voices in Japanese Studies2205-31662017-06-0199411510.21159/nvjs.09.05Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’Laura Emily Clark0University of QueenslandStudies on Japanese masculinity have been consistently and strongly engaged with R. W. Connell’s (1995) theory of the gender order and hegemonic masculinity, with the Japanese salaryman being identified as a masculine ideal by a number of scholars. Within this context there has been an emphasis on the plurality of masculinities present within society, and the instability of masculine ideals in gendered performances across different contexts. I argue, however, that there is still space to engage more deeply with Bakhtin’s concept of heteroglossia in order to reveal a multitude of different masculine voices present within a single gendered performance. Studies on the literature of Haruki Murakami have had only limited engagement with issues of masculinity, therefore this paper also demonstrates the potential for analysing the voices of male characters in fiction through masculinity theory. Here, I undertake a discourse analysis of three male characters in Haruki Murakami’s A Wild Sheep Chase [1982], proposing that although these characters are strongly engaged and invested in the monoglossic salaryman masculinity, there is always a heteroglossia of masculine performances present. This suggests that plurality is not actually an exception, or evidence of a failure to comply, but rather an ordinary aspect of gendered performance.http://newvoices.org.au/volume-9/heteroglossic-masculinity-in-haruki-murakamis-a-wild-sheep-chase/hegemonic masculinityheteroglossiagendermasculinity studiesMurakami HarukiHaruki Murakamipopular literaturesalaryman
spellingShingle Laura Emily Clark
Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
New Voices in Japanese Studies
hegemonic masculinity
heteroglossia
gender
masculinity studies
Murakami Haruki
Haruki Murakami
popular literature
salaryman
title Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
title_full Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
title_fullStr Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
title_full_unstemmed Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
title_short Heteroglossic Masculinity in Haruki Murakami’s ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’
title_sort heteroglossic masculinity in haruki murakami s a wild sheep chase
topic hegemonic masculinity
heteroglossia
gender
masculinity studies
Murakami Haruki
Haruki Murakami
popular literature
salaryman
url http://newvoices.org.au/volume-9/heteroglossic-masculinity-in-haruki-murakamis-a-wild-sheep-chase/
work_keys_str_mv AT lauraemilyclark heteroglossicmasculinityinharukimurakamisawildsheepchase