Dear researchers
I am writing my Matura thesis on the Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In my project, I would like to analyse the allegations of his alleged sexism based on several of his books.
My plan is to analyse the female characters in his books and see whether they are all portrayed in a sexist manner. My question is: What do you think is the best approach to analysing the characters? What should I pay particular attention to?
Good evening,
you’ve chosen an interesting topic. I must point out at the outset that I work primarily on German-language literature.
Methodologically speaking, you could phrase your question more carefully. I would remove the word ‘all’; you would probably only need to demonstrate the existence of sexism in selected examples.
Furthermore, you could clarify whether the issue is whether Murakami’s sexism is intentional. Perhaps the portrayal isn’t actually that sexist, given Murakami’s age, his socialisation, or the portrayal of femininity in certain aspects of Japanese culture. Or is the issue that European readers perceive the characterisations as sexist?
I suspect you are referring to the latter. In that case, in my view, you would need to establish criteria for a textual analysis that define when you consider something to be sexist. Nünnings Narrative text analysis and Gender Studies might be helpful here.
Another approach would be empirical: testing passages from the text with your colleagues. Insofar as this involves a gender-sensitive analysis, you should also pay attention to the wording. You’re doing that very well in your question.
Have I been able to help you? Do you need any further specific assistance?
Kind regards
Ralph Müller