0:00 - 0:40
A. Try to hear the missing words
So, you want to get started with Japanese literature. Welcome. Maybe you're an
(1)_____ fan. Maybe you've gulped down before the coffee gets cold in one sitting
and you want a bit more. Maybe you've read Murakami (2)_______ and you weren't
really sure whether you got on with it or not.
This is the video for you. I (3) ____ you six different books in five different categories.
The popular choice, the subversive choice, the (4)____ choices, the toxic choice,
and the quirky choice. Each of these is a perfectly good (5)___________ to explore
the world of Japanese fiction. In fact, I'll do you one better and give you some further
(6)_________ if any of these books in particular take your fancy. Sounds good?
Brilliant. Let's go
0:40 - 2:32
B. Listen and answer the question
1. How does he describe Haruki Murakami's writing style and what sets it apart
from other authors?
2. Which book of Haruki did he read first?
3. What kind of “Classic Murakami elements” does he mention, while speaking
of this book?
4. Which Murakami’s book he definitely doesn’t recommend for an “intro point to
Japanese literature” ?
5. How many Murakami’s books did he read?
2:32 - 4:28
С. Listen while watching the text
The subversive choice is Grotesque by Natsuo Kurino.
Murakami is the big beast in Japanese literature,
However, recently, if you've paid any attention to trends in publishing, you'll notice that it's
works written by women that are making the real rounds in terms of translated Japanese
fiction. When I first bought the works of Natsuo Kurino, it would have been quite a bit of a
struggle to find her works in standard British bookstores. Nowadays, I went to my local
bookstore and there was a full-on pile of real world in particular. And this is great news for
anyone looking for a different slice of Japanese life.
Whether it's Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman or Earthlings, or Yoko Ogawa's
Memory Police, really the time couldn't be better to be reading Japanese fiction in
translation, especially for works written by women. Much of the popular work in recent years
is about the alienation that women feel in modern Japanese society. It's an ageing society,
it's a sexist, patriarchal society, and these structures dominate the decisions that women are
able to make in living their lives.
Grotesque is an example of this from the early 2000s and was a forerunner of the kind of
works that are achieving popular acclaim today. Centering on the lives of two prostitutes, it's
an example of how stifling the patriarchal society of Japan is and the ways in which
individual women make decisions within that framework. Karina is a vicious skewerer, as she
writes, and it's not exactly like her female protagonists are saints either, they're not.
This isn't a polemic. Her characters are real and wounded, they're not saints. And this book
is a really good way to look at a side of Japanese society you maybe might not have thought
too much about. If you like this book, you're going to want to read more Korinos. Specifically,
you're going to want to read Out, the story of five women who decide to murder their
husbands, and also Real World, the story of four schoolgirls who become obsessed with a
murderer in their class.
You're also going to want to read Sayaka Murata, namely Convenience Store Woman, and
then Earthlings especially. She's probably the most prominent writer today, focusing on this
kind of alienation theme.
D. Close the video and analyze the text
Answer the following questions:
1. Who is the author of the subversive book "Grotesque"?
2. What trend is currently noticeable in the world of translated Japanese fiction?
3. Why is it easier to find works by female Japanese authors in British
bookstores now compared to before?
4. What themes are commonly explored in popular Japanese fiction by women
writers?
5. Can you provide examples of other works by Natsuo Kurino and Sayaka
Murata that readers might enjoy after reading "Grotesque"?