INITIAL REFLECTIONS ON EROTICISM IN KAFKA ON THE SHORE, BY HARUKI MURAKAMI

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article presents a preliminary research effort on eroticism in the novel Kafka on the Shore by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. Based on the assumption that there is a conceptual difference between eroticism and sensualism in Japanese literature, this paper seeks to understand how both materialize in the researched work. Finally, it reflects on the role of eroticism in the novel and on the dangers of an orientalist interpretation, which ends up hindering more than helping to read the text. Some excerpts of the novel are presented in order to illustrate the assertions along the article.. Ninomiya (1999), Paz (1994) and Bataille (1987) serve as theoretical foundation for the reflections conducted.