@article{article_973103, title={DIGGING INTO THE DEPTHS OF EXISTENTIALIST ABSURDISM THROUGH GOTHIC IN HARUKI MURAKAMI’S KAFKA ON THE SHORE}, journal={Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi}, volume={45}, pages={101–116}, year={2021}, url={https://izlik.org/JA83RF29RE}, author={Carban, Yeşim}, keywords={Absurdity, Gothic, Existentialism, Meaning, Sisyphus}, abstract={This study aims to bring the realms of philosophy and literature together to create a link between our quotidian lives and fictional worlds. Absurdity in an existential sense means there is an internal contradiction in one’s aspiration to seek meaning in the universe which is destitute of such meaning. The correlation between absurdity and existentialism was asserted by Albert Camus who gained insights into absurdity by contemplating Sisyphus. Nonetheless, the purpose of this study is to blend existential absurdism with gothic genre to explore elements of existential absurdity and gothic echoes in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. One’s existential angst can be evaluated from a perspective which is also related to gothic, since the universe devoid of rationality, purpose and joy can be likened to gothic fiction whose attributes are also irrationality, gloominess and uncanny. To cope with the absurdity that surrounds us, as though we were characters trapped in manifold absurdities of gothic fiction, we resolutely cling to hope or death. Death is also a theme of gothic fiction from which characters endeavour to escape but mostly fail, like existentialists cannot escape from suicidal desires in nihility called the universe.}, number={2}