JOURNEY «BEYOND THE BODY» IN THE NOVEL OF H. MURAKAMI «KAFKA ON THE BEACH»

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of traveling «beyond the corporeality» of the characters of Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Beach. Special attention is paid to the bodily transformations of the characters, going beyond the limits of physicality, as signs of the loss of personal identity. The article also compares the «bodily journeys» of the main character of the novel with the passage of the labyrinth, which also symbolizes the rite of initiation. The relevance of the research is due to the need to fill in the existing gaps in modern literary criticism on the problems of bodily metamorphoses considered in the designated context, as well as on the study of the creative heritage of H. Murakami in general. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that the novel by H. Murakami, chosen as the object of research, is analyzed through the prism of the phenomenological theory of corporeality by V. Podorogi, special attention is paid to the concept of «the body outside the norm». The work also reflects the ideas about the physicality and identity of J. Baudrillard, F. Nietzsche, M. Yampolsky et al. It is proved that in the novel the phenomenon of the hero's journey inside his own body is both a sign of the loss of personal identity and a way of acquiring this identity.