The modern era was a time when essence took precedence over existence. Modern reason was oriented towards essence, and inevitably, violence could not be avoided. Writing in a state of wakefulness is like dreaming on the first floor underground. To overcome the modern era, which resided on the first floor underground, and in order for existence to precede essence, the writer needs the task of dreaming within dreams on the second floor underground. Hitler's inductive metaphor, stating “Jews exist as typical parasites,” can be considered a definition related to essence, where ‘Germans are hosts’ and ‘Jews are parasites.’ In contrast, Franz Kafka's deductive metaphor in “The Metamorphosis,” describing ‘Gregor as a repulsive insect,’ differs in that it involves individual and voluntary choices in existential existence.
In “Norwegian Wood,” Watanabe experiences the unconscious world of the second floor underground (dream within a dream), where rationality on the first and second floors above ground cannot reach, even while awake.
Norwegian Wood's Watanabe experiences the unconscious world of the second floor (dream within a dream) where rationality on the first and second floors above ground cannot reach. He undergoes experiences similar to ‘quantum superposition,’ ‘quantum entanglement,’ and ‘simultaneity phenomenon,’ in the realm of quantum mechanics which states, “Death is not on the opposite side of life but inherently embedded in our lives.” Similar to electrons probabilistically existing around the atomic nucleus, this suggests that “everything revolves around death in the middle of life” and signifies the uncertainty that “if one grasps one side, one cannot grasp the other.” Just as electrons, when acquiring energy, shift to another energy level, going to the position of No.2, and when losing energy, return to No.1 or transform into another position like No.3, “death is already inherently embedded in the existence itself,” and therefore, “death can be seen to exist not as a contradiction to life but as a part of it.” In the double-slit experiment, electrons appear as particles when observed and as waves when not observed. Particles represent essence, and waves represent existence. Modernity viewed electrons (personality) more as particles (essence) than waves (existence). it can be interpreted that in “Norwegian Wood,” Naoko, the personality who has lost the wave (existence) of Kizuki, becomes particles (essence), losing vitality.
The Oedipus complex can be seen as an essence, the collective unconscious trying to eliminate the father and get closer to the mother. Gregor's sister pronouncing a death sentence on him in the family meeting suggests that her animus (feminine masculine image) did not develop harmoniously within the societal values (collective unconscious). Gregor, transformed into a repulsive insect, facing family violence, does not resist with violence but peacefully embraces death by refusing food, indicating a well-balanced development of anima (masculine feminine image).
To overturn the divine plan aiming for a perfect world, a demon corresponding to the power of God is needed. Shakespeare's Othello and Iago form a set representing good and evil. In “Kafka on the Shore,” Nakata communicates with Schrodinger's cat, alive and dead simultaneously, and may be a magical being. Therefore, Damura Kafka, as a doppelganger, has become a robust boy connected to magical powers linked to transcendental Pleroma.
Murakami suggests that the phenomenon of quantum mechanics' superposition occurs not only in the microscopic world but also existentially in everyday life in the macroscopic world. Murakami can be seen as narrating a mandala composed of numerous Schrodinger's cats.
동북아시아문화학회 [The Association of North-east Asian Cultures]
설립연도
2000
분야
복합학>학제간연구
소개
동북아시아 문화의 다양성과 정체성을 연구 토론하고, 지역내 문화 교류의 다양한 모습을 연구하고 문화변동의 큰 틀을 집적함으로써 우리 민족 문화 및 상대 민족의 문화적 터전을 이해하여 문화공동체적 특성을 계발하고 상호 관련성의 강화를 유도하는 학술활동을 통해 동북아시아의 문화발전에 이바지함.