Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood
The primary aim of our study is to challenge the traditional phallocentric conception of the erotic that casts women as passive objects, whose sexuality is defined solely in relation to the phallus. Drawing on the feminist critique of Audre Lorde, who contends that the power of the erotic is an empo...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The International Academic Forum
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-arts-and-humanities/volume-11-issue-2/article-5/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832592873226240000 |
|---|---|
| author | Smaranika Chakraborty Himangshu Sarma |
| author_facet | Smaranika Chakraborty Himangshu Sarma |
| author_sort | Smaranika Chakraborty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The primary aim of our study is to challenge the traditional phallocentric conception of the erotic that casts women as passive objects, whose sexuality is defined solely in relation to the phallus. Drawing on the feminist critique of Audre Lorde, who contends that the power of the erotic is an empowering force that is latent in women, we argue that when women take agency over their body and reclaim their sexuality, they emerge as empowered beings in all aspects of their lives. The erotic, thus, turns into a life force or a creative agency to address the multifariousness of sexuality. This paper seeks to establish the trope of erotic as a constructive force and further aims to explicate how women wield sexuality to subvert gendered power dynamics and counter the historical use of sexuality as a tool for female subjugation. By integrating Lorde’s idea of the erotic as an agency along with the theories of sexuality propounded by Herbert Marcuse, Luce Irigaray, and Georges Bataille, we attempt to arrive at an alternative conceptualization of the erotic through a feminist reading of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (2003) and perceive the sexual encounters in question, as an empowering and reconciling force for both the sexes, rather than perpetuating power dynamics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8cb5424235ba4da98ac2b55a72fc6559 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2187-0616 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | The International Academic Forum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities |
| spelling | doaj-art-8cb5424235ba4da98ac2b55a72fc65592025-01-21T01:58:22ZengThe International Academic ForumIAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities2187-06162024-12-01112637510.22492/ijah.11.2.05Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian WoodSmaranika Chakraborty0Himangshu Sarma1North-Eastern Hill University, IndiaGauhati University, IndiaThe primary aim of our study is to challenge the traditional phallocentric conception of the erotic that casts women as passive objects, whose sexuality is defined solely in relation to the phallus. Drawing on the feminist critique of Audre Lorde, who contends that the power of the erotic is an empowering force that is latent in women, we argue that when women take agency over their body and reclaim their sexuality, they emerge as empowered beings in all aspects of their lives. The erotic, thus, turns into a life force or a creative agency to address the multifariousness of sexuality. This paper seeks to establish the trope of erotic as a constructive force and further aims to explicate how women wield sexuality to subvert gendered power dynamics and counter the historical use of sexuality as a tool for female subjugation. By integrating Lorde’s idea of the erotic as an agency along with the theories of sexuality propounded by Herbert Marcuse, Luce Irigaray, and Georges Bataille, we attempt to arrive at an alternative conceptualization of the erotic through a feminist reading of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (2003) and perceive the sexual encounters in question, as an empowering and reconciling force for both the sexes, rather than perpetuating power dynamics. https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-arts-and-humanities/volume-11-issue-2/article-5/eroticharuki murakamilife-forcephallocentrismsexuality |
| spellingShingle | Smaranika Chakraborty Himangshu Sarma Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities erotic haruki murakami life-force phallocentrism sexuality |
| title | Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood |
| title_full | Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood |
| title_fullStr | Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood |
| title_short | Interpreting the Erotic as An Agency: A Study of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood |
| title_sort | interpreting the erotic as an agency a study of haruki murakami s norwegian wood |
| topic | erotic haruki murakami life-force phallocentrism sexuality |
| url | https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-arts-and-humanities/volume-11-issue-2/article-5/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT smaranikachakraborty interpretingtheeroticasanagencyastudyofharukimurakamisnorwegianwood AT himangshusarma interpretingtheeroticasanagencyastudyofharukimurakamisnorwegianwood |