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A room in the hotel Alphaville : An essay on surveillance and exposed bodies in Haruki Murakami's After Dark

Nygren, Johanna LU (2013) LIVR41 20131
Master's Programme: Literature - Culture - Media
Comparative Literature
Abstract
This essay analyses the novel After Dark, written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It examines, from a Foucaultian perspective, how the novel presents a modern panoptic society. It is discussed how surveillance and objectification are connected and how they behave within the panoptic structure. Also, it is discussed how certain characters in the novel, both male and female, respond with fear to such a society and how this fear is portrayed in different ways because of their respective genders. With regards to gender theory, there is material from Judith Butler and other gender theorists included in the essay, theorists who highlight questions such as objectification and dichotomous structures. The conclusion is that there exists a... (More)
This essay analyses the novel After Dark, written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It examines, from a Foucaultian perspective, how the novel presents a modern panoptic society. It is discussed how surveillance and objectification are connected and how they behave within the panoptic structure. Also, it is discussed how certain characters in the novel, both male and female, respond with fear to such a society and how this fear is portrayed in different ways because of their respective genders. With regards to gender theory, there is material from Judith Butler and other gender theorists included in the essay, theorists who highlight questions such as objectification and dichotomous structures. The conclusion is that there exists a panoptic fear in the novel and that men and women react differently because of their roles within that social structure. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nygren, Johanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
LIVR41 20131
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Murakami, Foucault, surveillance, After Dark
language
English
id
3878415
date added to LUP
2013-10-09 09:25:15
date last changed
2013-10-09 09:25:15
@misc{3878415,
  abstract     = {{This essay analyses the novel After Dark, written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. It examines, from a Foucaultian perspective, how the novel presents a modern panoptic society. It is discussed how surveillance and objectification are connected and how they behave within the panoptic structure. Also, it is discussed how certain characters in the novel, both male and female, respond with fear to such a society and how this fear is portrayed in different ways because of their respective genders. With regards to gender theory, there is material from Judith Butler and other gender theorists included in the essay, theorists who highlight questions such as objectification and dichotomous structures. The conclusion is that there exists a panoptic fear in the novel and that men and women react differently because of their roles within that social structure.}},
  author       = {{Nygren, Johanna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A room in the hotel Alphaville : An essay on surveillance and exposed bodies in Haruki Murakami's After Dark}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}