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This lecture, “Haruki Murakami and the Question of Democracy in Post-Fukushima Japan,” focuses on rethinking the relation of “plurality” (Hannah Arendt) with “exclusion” and “violence” (Giorgio Agamben), with a focus on Haruki Murakami’s recent novels “Tasaki Tsukuru and the Year of His Pilgrimage” and “1Q84” in order to trace his thoughts on how to locate “unevenness” in liberal democracy, especially its ambivalent nature, in which both diversity and discrimination are implicated. Jun’ichi Isomae’s research specializes in religious discourse and practice in Japan in terms of colonialism and postcoloniality. He also focuses on Japanese mythology, from antiquity to modern interpretations. He has an MA and PhD in religious studies from the University of Tokyo. He is associate professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies and currently a visiting professor at the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
The Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies was launched in 2007 by the Committee on Japanese Studies to honor the legacy of Tetsuo Najita, the Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in History, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the College, and his contribution to the University of Chicago during his long career.
Sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies Committee on Japanese Studies.