Murakami Haruki and Children’s Literature Ⅰ

― Children’s Literature in vehicles ―

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to confirm that Murakami Haruki is strongly affected by children’s literature. There are several effective approaches we could take, such as collating Murakami’s remarks on children’s literature or considering the meaning of his picture book translations. In this study, we clarify the great influence children’s literature had on Murakami by considering the similes employed in Murakami’s literary works, one of their chief characteristics. A simile is a form of rhetoric that overlaps what is in front of you （the tenor） with something that is not here now（the vehicle）. From the entire body of Murakami’s literature, we select similes for which the vehicle is children’s literature. The results should show not only the fact that Murakami read a great deal of children’s literature, but also the intertextuality of children’s literature in his own literary works.