The thesis examines the novels of Anglo-American author Russell Hoban (1923-) and Japanese author Murakami Haruki [Chinese characters] (1949-) as Menippean satires. The Introduction defines the Menippean satire and considers possible sources for this genre as found in the works of Hoban and Murakami. Parts I and II examine several novels by Hoban and by Murakami respectively, demonstrating how their works conform to the conventions of the Menippean satire. In examining Murakami's fiction, Part II also considers possible antecedents in Japanese literature for tropes and topoi that appear Menippean in the light of Western genre theory; there is a special emphasis on Murakami's most recent work, [Chinese characters] Nejimakidori kuronikuru (1994-6, The Wind-up Bird Chronicles). The Conclusion examines why these two authors write Menippean satires. No claim is made that either author has chosen this genre in deliberate imitation of classical or Renaissance models. Rather, from the standpoint of cultural history, the thesis argues that the Menippean satire—or at least a form of postmodernist novel with notable affinities to the Menippean satire—has re-emerged as a genre for our times. Drawing on examples from the fiction of Murakami and Hoban, the conclusion demonstrates that central features of this genre—fantasy, crudity, philosophical dialogues, inserted genres, invented languages, and the descent into hell—are particularly appropriate for the fictional treatment of life in a postmodern world. Moreover, these features are serviceable not only in a Western context. Murakami Haruki, despite his Japanese cultural background and his avowed intention to write about Japan, relies on many of the same generic strategies as does Russell Hoban. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

When reading a translated book or a dubbed movie, one might come to wonder if the translation conveys the characters’ personality traits identically to that of the original, and while ‘identical’ may not be achievable, ‘equivalent’ rather may be within the scope of a translator’s capability. Translation between languages as vastly different as Swedish and Japanese, or English and Japanese are bound to face greater difficulties than for example Swedish and English. Japanese dialogue can highlight register and idiosyncratic speech patterns in particularly unique ways. This case study investigates how this is done and handled in both English and Swedish by analyzing the dialogue of the main protagonist Nakata Satoru in the novel Umibe no Kafka by Murakami Haruki. Thus, two questions arise: “What distinguishing elements of Nakata Satoru’s register and formality make his speech unique in the original Umibe no Kafuka?” and “How are the distinct characteristics in the dialogue of Nakata Satoru maintained – or lost in the Swedish and English translations of Umibe no Kafuka?”. In pursuit of an answer to these questions, the original copy of Umibe no Kafuka, the English translation (Kafka on the Shore), and the Swedish translation (Kafka på Stranden) were analyzed and all sentences spoken by Nakata in chapters 6,16 and 20 were recorded and compared to the ST – or source text. The study ultimately found that the distinct characteristics in Nakata’s speech were many times in the English and Swedish translations ignored and that Nakata’s soft spoken, understanding tone was often overlooked in order to allow for the translation to flow naturally.

"Ce mémoire porte sur les réécritures du mythe d’OEdipe dans Kafka sur le rivage d’Haruki Murakami et Les Gommes d’Alain Robbe-Grillet. Plus spécifiquement, il vise à cerner les stratégies par lesquelles ces auteurs se réapproprient le mythe d’OEdipe, d’abord en explorant les liens hypertextuels qui associent ces romans avec OEdipe roi, leur texte fondateur, ainsi qu’avec la psychanalyse freudienne. Ensuite, il sera question d’examiner les modalités entourant la transposition de ce mythe en un contexte moderne, en mettant en lien les thématiques et motifs qui sous-tendent chaque réécriture. Le mémoire procède, en dernier lieu, à l’analyse d’une philosophie de la métaphore dans ces romans, philosophie qui semble dans les deux cas (malgré les divergences fondamentales de point de vue des auteurs sur la question) liée de près à la question du mythe dans leurs oeuvres respectives."

1979年，村上春樹（Murakami Haruki）以小說《聽風的歌》奪得日本講談社群象新人獎，由於風格新穎廣受年輕人歡迎，被評論家視為日本文學新旗手，同時也代表日本當代文學的轉折。1987年《挪威的森林》以七百萬冊的銷售量晉身日本有史以來最暢銷的文學作品，奠定村上春樹在日本文壇的地位。至今他是目前全球最負盛名的作家之一，一系列的作品被翻譯為多國語言，在一定程度上，村上春樹也成為當今日本文化的代表。八○年代中期，村上春樹的名字首度出現在台灣媒體上。這位隨後在台灣被塑造成巨星形象的日本作家，以其獨特的符號和囈語寫作風格，創造的「村上式」文風及思考模式，在台灣成為一種流行的閱讀、創作以及生活品味象徵。結合行銷體系、網際網路及其作品具備發展成大眾文學的潛力，「村上春樹現象」由小眾、精英轉變為大眾蔓延開來，成為台灣社會特定時期鮮明的流行文化圖騰。本研究主要採取文獻與影音的跨文本閱讀，以探討村上春樹流行現象之文獻與村上文本為起點，並透過和村上讀者的深入訪談記錄，檢視國內村上論述之發展與內涵交相型構出的辯證過程，由產製到閱讀一一爬梳，勾勒一個由多種論述共同織就的村上春樹圖譜，進而解答為何村上作品能穿透地域和語言的限制，成為台灣九○年代唯一常踞書市的外文暢銷書，而村上春樹現象又為本地文化研究者和創作者帶來何種啟發。

The distinguishing traits of characters in novels may appear to change in translation. One of the main means of conveying the individualities, personalities and moral qualities of characters is through dialogue, using the possibilities opened by, for example, the selection of register and use of gendered language. In order to gain insight on how apparent changes to characteristics can arise, this case study investigates whether, why and how the character Midori in Murakami Haruki's Norwegian Wood appears to change in translation, based on her dialogue. The study demonstrates how linguistic differences between the source and target languages and the adoption of an overall approach to translation, such as a foreignising or domesticating strategy, are major factors in determining the nature and magnitude of any observed change. Two of the most influential speech elements identified and studied are gendered language and casual language. Both terms represent similar but not identical concepts in the source and target languages and are manifested differently in the two languages, giving rise to wide-ranging translation problems. The study further suggests that a domestication approach, as well as modifying the fluency and cultural flavour of the text in general, can affect the characterisation of novels both indirectly and directly. The influence of a domesticating approach to translation focusing on its application specifically to dialogue or influence on characterisation may be a fruitful area for further research.

In this essay Murakami Haruki’s novel The Wind Up Bird Chronicle was analysed from the perspective of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope. The aim was to explore the concept of time and space as presented in the novel. In particular, the analysis focused on how Bakhtin’s chronotopes can be applied to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, how the chronotopes can enhance our understanding of the novel, and finally how the chronotope theory can be applied to the concept of ‘magic realism’ that is often used to describe Murakami’s authorship. Four chronotopes, presented by Bachtin, were selected and applied to the novel: every-day life, the road, crisis and the castle. The concept of the chronotope allows analysis of how time and space work together in literature and how they form patterns of correlation in the sujet. Results showed that the four chronotopes were found in the novel, and that they also interacted with each other. The chronotope of everyday-life was apparent throughout the novel, and the narrator was under its control. The narrator also seemed to create every-day life out of the chronotopes of the road and crisis by re-living the crises in the road. These three chronotopes seemed inseparable in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Finally, the fourth chronotope, the castle, illustrated how a concrete room in the novel, a house, became a part of time and space through a character who, by his presence, gave the impression of slowing down time. When this character disappeared, time made its way through space, making the chronotope of the castle visible. The essay concludes that the chronotope theory was a relevant way to analyse The Wind Up Chronicle as it provided a concept of how time and space appeared together in a novel where time and space is always present. The analysis helped creating a way of understanding the patterns in the novel, which were not always clear, thereby also increasing the understanding of The Wind Up Bird Chronicle.