UNVEILING HOMONOMARTIVITY IN THE NOVELS OF HARUKI MURAKAMI

Haruki Murakami is one of the most well-known authors in Japan and even in the global literary scene. He is infamous in the Japanese society for his peculiar and highly Westernized characters like homosexuals and queers. This paper studied three of Murakami's novels, particularly focusing on the LGBTQIAP+ characters in each story. Kafka on the Shore (1990), Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (1990), Sputnik Sweetheart (1990) were the novels used in the novel and the LGBTQIAP+ characters from these novels were Oshima, Akamatsu, and Sumire, respectively. The study explored the portrayal of the aforementioned characters and how they were developed by Murakami in their respective stories. Another question answered in the study was the narrative devices that Murakami employed in portraying the LGBTQIAP+ characters and how these showed the homonormativity of these characters. In this study, homonormativity refers to the act of nonheterosexuals blending in with the society by exhibiting normative traits based on particular societal standards. In answering the first two sub-problems, Formalist criticism was used. Also, the researcher established a connection between the portrayal of Murakami's LGBTQIA+ characters and the status quo of their community in the present Jpanese society. This was answered in the study by using Sociological approach. It was revealed that with the use of particular narrative devices like foreshadowing, plot twists, and flashbacks, the LGBTQIAP+ characters showed significant traits of homonormativity in their stories. The researcher also concluded that the portrayal of Murakami's LGBTQIAP+ characters were reflective of Japan's queer society where they can be normal and celebrate their pride and identity but not to the extent of pursuing their love.