글로컬 문화콘텐츠로서의 무라카미 하루키 문학 －2000년 이전을 중심으로－

Abstract

In this study, it was argued that the reason for acceptance of the works of Murakami Haruki by global readers was because his novels had been consumed as global cultural contents, and to substantiate this, the commonalities between the characteristics of subculture at each era and his novels before the year 2000 were elucidated. Of course, this study does not assert that Murakami Haruki has become a world-class novelist only with such subcultural elements, ignoring the subjects and quality of his novels. He has covered diverse subjects since his early works. Particularly, since 1995, Murakami has opened his eyes to social problems, even discussing the responsibility of Japan for the history of war, and he has been fulfilling his responsibility as a global novelist. It cannot be denied that these diverse elements have been a crucial prop for the universality of Murakami’s literature. However, behind his universality, Murakami himself notably perceived subculture, the culture of young generations, and it appears that he could attract young readers successfully by adopting this in his work. Even as he is becoming older, he still writes novels with young protagonists. This is possible due to his efforts and challenging spirit not to lose the sense of young generations. Such maintenance of the fresh sense must be the origin of vital energy of his work that enables his creative activities to continue for over 40 years constantly without stagnation.