Representation of Minorities in the Context of the ‘Other’ in Haruki Murakami's ‘Slow Boat to China’

Abstract

In this study, the experience of the protagonist in three phases of his life with three Chinese characters, living in Japan and exposed to the social exclusion, are examined in the story of Slow Boat to China of Haruki Murakami, in relation to the concept of the "other" in postcolonialism and orientalism. The different identities and cultures in a society have been consciously or unconsciously suppressed while considering downward as a consequence of the practices that colonial rhetoric is trying to justify. In the story, the characters in the position of other, have been removed from the society as inferior other due to the orientalist disscourse and the practices of society. The purpose of the study is to disscuss the experiences of the protagonist with these characters, and his alieanation, elaborating the issue of other described by postcolonial and orientalist discourse. In the paper, the prejudiced view regarding minorities – in this sense the Chinese characters- and their alienation have been explored in the light of the postcolonial method and orientalist disscourse while tracing the experience of domination in social life. It has been concluded that the protagonist is alienated from his own society due to the effect of the ethnic label in the perception of the Japanese society and the cultural prejudices and discrimination that the protagonist creates against the other in his own subconscious.

Keywords

• Other
• alienation
• postcolonialism
• orientalism
• Japanese literature

Haruki Murakami’nin Çin’e Giden Yavaş Gemi Öyküsünde ‘Öteki’ Bağlamında Azınlıkların Temsili

Abstract

Makalede, Haruki Murakami’nin Çin’e Giden Yavaş Gemi adlı öyküsündeki Japon başkişinin hayatının üç farklı döneminde karşılaştığı toplumun dışlamasına maruz kalmış Japonya’da yaşayan üç Çinli karakter ile ilgili deneyimleri postkolonyalizm ve oryantalizmdeki “öteki” kavramı ile ilişkilendirilerek irdelenmektedir. Kolonyal söylemin haklı göstermeye çalıştığı uygulamalar sonucu bir toplumun içindeki farklı kimlikler ve kültürler daha aşağı görülerek, bilinçli ya da bilinçsizce bu bireyler üzerinde baskı oluşturulmaktadır. Öyküde toplumsal pratikler ve oryantalist söylemin etkisi ile ‘öteki’ konumunda olan karakterlerin toplumdan uzaklaşarak toplumun dışında kaldıkları görülmektedir. Başkişinin bu karakterler ile ilgili deneyimleri ve yaşadığı yabancılaşma duygusunun postkolonyal ve oryantalist söylemin ele aldığı öteki sorunu üzerinden değerlendirilmesi makalenin amacını oluşturmaktadır. Makalede öyküdeki Çinli karakterler bağlamında azınlıklara yönelik önyargılı bakış ve yabancılaştırılmaları oryantalist söylemin etkisi ve postkolonyal yöntem ışığında tahakkümün sosyal hayatta deneyimlenmesinin izleri sürülerek açıklanmıştır. Japon toplumunun algısında etnik etiketin etkisi ve başkişinin bilinçdışında ötekiye karşı oluşturduğu kültürel önyargılar ve ayrımcılık nedeniyle başkişinin kendi toplumuna yabancılaştığı sonucuna varılmıştır.

Keywords

• Öteki
• yabancılaşma
• postkolonyalizm
• oryantalizm
• Japon edebiyatı

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