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MAGICAL REALISM IN A SHINAGAWA MONKEY SHORT STORY BY
HARUKI MURAKAMI: THE CONCEPT OF CHARACTERISTICS OF
MAGICAL REALISM BY WENDY B. FARIS
A Thesis
Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One
UMAR MAHFUZH
1111026000072
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTEMENT
LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
2017
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ABSTRACT
Umar Mahfuzh, NIM: 1111026000072, Magical Realism in A Shinagawa Monkey
Short Story by Haruki Murakami: The Concept of Characteristics of Magical
Realism by Wendy B. Faris. Thesis: English Letters Department, Letters and
Humanities Faculty of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta, 2017.
The writer uses a short story entitled A Shinagawa Monkey which is
written by Haruki Murakami as unit analysis in this research. In addition, this
story is included in a collected story entitled Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. This
research focuses on finding the characteristics of magical realism contained in the
story using Wendy B. Faris‟ concept about characteristics of magical realism in a
fiction. Thus, the writer collects the data from the textual units related with the
focus of the research and categorize them based on each characteristics.
The result of this research is that characteristics of magical realism
offered by Wendy B. Faris could be found in the short story except one
characteristic, that is, disruption of time. However, it does not affect the story to
not be called a magical realist fiction. First, the story contains the irreducible
element in which it emerges in the form of a talking monkey. Second, the
presence of real places and objects such as jewelry shop, counseling office, purse,
bracelet et cetera, that resembles the ones existed in real life detail a strong
presence of the phenomenal world. Third, the western readers experience
unsettling doubt when the talking monkey emerges in the story. Fourth, merging
realm occurs when Mizuki, Mr. and Mrs. Sakaki and Mr. Sakurada meet the
talking monkey in the storage room in which the real space—as in the room—
merges, by the presence of the talking monkey, with magical character. Fifth, the
room where four characters encounter the talking monkey experiences disruption
of space in which its function turns into magical space from real space. Disruption
of identity is occurred to the talking monkey for he acts as a psychologist who
reveal Mizuki‟s problem despite its nature identity as an animal.
Keyword: Magical Realism, Wendy B. Faris, A Shinagawa Monkey, Short Story,
Haruki Murakami.
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LEGALIZATION
Name : Umar Mahfuzh
NIM : 1111026000072
Title : Magical Realism in A Shinagawa Monkey Short Story by Haruki
Murakami: The Concept of Characteristics of Magical Realism by
Wendy B. Faris
The thesis entitled above has been defended before the Letter and
Humanities Faculty‟s Examination Committee on January 17th
, 2017. It has
already been accepted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
strata one.
Jakarta, January 17th
2017
Examination Committee
Signature Date
1. Drs. Saefudin, M.Pd.
NIP. 19640710 199303 1 006 (Chair Person)
2. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum.
NIP. 19781003 200112 2 002 (Secretary)
3. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum.
NIP. 19781003 200112 2 002 (Advisor)
4. Inayatul Chusna, M.Hum.
NIP. 19780126 200312 2 002 (Examiner I)
5. Nina Farlina, M.Hum.
NIP. 19850429 201503 2 002 (Examiner II)
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best
of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or
written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been
accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other
institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in
the text.
Jakarta, September 2016
Umar Mahfuzh
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
All praises be to Allah SWT, the Lord of the Universe, who give the writer
an extraordinary power, patience, spirit and every single idea that the writer writes
in this thesis. Peace and bless be upon the prophet Muhammad SAW who had
changed the world into the better place to live.
This paper is presented to English Letters Department of Letters and
Humanities Faculty, Islamic State University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta as a
partial fulfillment of the requirement for strata one degree.
The writer would like to express the highest gratitude to his family; his
parents and brother who always give spirit every day to make him strong. Most of
all, he dedicated this thesis for all of his beloved family for the support all this
time.
Furthermore, the writer also would like to convey his sincere gratitude
particularly to:
1. Prof. Dr. Sukron Kamil, M. Ag., the Dean of Letters and Humanities
Faculty.
2. Drs. Saefudin, M. Pd., the Head of English Letters Department
3. Elve Oktafiyani, M. Hum., the Secretary of English Letters
Department and the advisor of the writer, for the great patience and
contribution on finishing this paper.
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4. The examiner in the thesis examination, Inayatul Chusna, M. Hum.,
and Nina Farlina, M. Hum., for the advices and suggestions.
5. All lecturers of English Letters Department for their encouragement to
the writer.
6. The beloved parents, Kasimin and Sumani, and the brother, Amir, for
their love, patience, support, and prayer.
7. His comrades in Sulaimaniyah; Noorfie, Nanang, Ariz, Abdillah,
Arief, Taufik etc.
8. His friends in English Letters Department; Ade, Iwa, Fikri, Tanto,
Rego, Hanif, Jaisy, Wahid, Sarah, Nevisis, Kiki, Aini, Al, Uswa etc.
9. All friends in KKn Aksi 2014
Jakarta, January 2017
The Writer
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ i
APPROVAL SHEET ............................................................................................ ii
LEGALIZATION ................................................................................................ iii
DECLARATION .................................................................................................. iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ....................................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study .................................................................. 1
B. Focus of the Study ............................................................................ 8
C. Research Question ............................................................................ 8
D. Significance of the Study ................................................................. 9
E. Research Methodology..................................................................... 9
1. The Objective of Research ......................................................... 9
2. The Method of Research ............................................................ 9
3. The Instrument of the Research ................................................. 9
4. The Unit of Analysis ................................................................ 10
5. The Technique of Data Analysis .............................................. 10
6. Research Design ....................................................................... 11
CHAPTER II THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION ................................... 12
A. Previous Research ........................................................................... 12
B. The Concept of Characteristics of Magical Realism by Wendy B.
Faris ................................................................................................ 13
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CHAPTER III DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 21
A. The Data Description ..................................................................... 21
B. Characteristics of Magical Realism in A Shinagawa Monkey ....... 22
1. The Irreducible Element ........................................................... 22
2. The Phenomenal World............................................................ 27
3. Unsettling Doubts .................................................................... 30
4. Merging Realms ....................................................................... 31
5. Disruptions of Space, Time and Identity ................................. 33
CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ................................. 37
A. Conclusions .................................................................................... 37
B. Suggestions .................................................................................... 38
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 39
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Magical realism is one of the term frequently appeared in literary
discussion. The term emerged as an interesting and problematic genre. It is
interesting that this genre has remarkable attraction, so it influences some
countries. It is problematic that this genre, by some people, is still difficult to
understand.
The definition of magical realism, literally, is based on understanding of
the meaning of “realism” and the meaning of “magic”. Bowers (19-20) explained
that “realism...allows the writer to present many details that contribute to a
realistic impression”, whereas magic “refers to any extraordinary occurrence and
particularly to anything spiritual or unaccountable by rational science”. The
meaning of magical realism Bowers (20) concluded is “characterized by two
conflicting perspectives, one based on a rational view of reality and the other on
the acceptance of the supernatural as prosaic reality”.
Bowers (2) added that “magical realism or magic realism are terms
which many people have heard and yet very few readers have a clear idea of what
they may include and imply”. The theme frequently contained in magic realist
work is “the idea of terror overwhelms the possibility of rejuvenation in magical
realism. Time is another conspicuous theme, which is frequently displayed as a
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cyclical instead linear. What happens once is destined to happen again. Irony and
paradox stay rooted in recurring social and political aspiration” (Bowers 2).
The term “magical realism” was first introduced in 1925 by Franz Roh, a
German art critic, who describe painting which demonstrate the irrational reality.
On his essay where the term was coined, Roh expanded the essay in which he first
used the term “Magic Realism” into a book, Nach-Expressionismus, Magischer
Realismus (Magic Realism: Post Expressionism). The essay was translated into
Spanish and published in Madrid in 1927. The translated book was distributed in
both Spain and Latin America. In Spanish, the book‟s title was Realismo Magico,
Post Expresionismo, a positioning which gave the new term “Magic Realism”
additional prominence. Soon after, the term Magic Realism was being applied to
the prose of European writers in the literary circles of Buenos Aires (Weinberg
347).
Alejo Carpentier, Cuban cultural historian of Latin America on his essay
On the Marvelous Real in America (1949), referring to Realismo Magico coined
the lo real maravilloso—the real marvelous, to describe the magical realism in a
unique America,
“I will say that my first inkling of the marvelous real [lo real
maravilloso] ... I saw the possibility of bringing to our own latitudes
certain European truths, reversing those who travel against the sun and
would take our truths to a place where, just thirty years ago, there was no
capacity to understand or measure those truths in their real dimensions”
(Carpentier 84).
Carpentier on his phrase describes America as the form of magical realism,
judging by the thriving modern world but people from around the world who
settled in it still practicing traditional beliefs and surrounded by affluence of
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mythologies. These two substances combine and form the new America which
very different from thirty years ago. To discover true magical realism, on his
essay, Alejo Carpentier suggested on finding the fantastic element mixture in
human nature, reality of place and time and not by hiding the marvelous event
behind nonessential images.
On the time of the term was born, many people with influence, mostly
artists and historian were based on Latin America and travel to Europe. Soon
after, the term became very influential among literary society. The manifesto of
this lo real maravilloso was considered as central phase of the development of
Latin American novel in the 1940s until the release of One Hundred Years of
Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez which is published for the very first time in
Europe in 1970s followed by others such as Salman Rushdie‟s Midnight’s
Children, Jorge Luis Borge‟s Labyrinths and Laura Esquivel‟s Like Water for
Chocolate.
The statements of Franz Roh and Alejo Carpentier regarding “magical
realism” made them considered as the two fundamentalists of magical realism
theory. As literary theories expand, magical realism becomes popular and attracts
numbers of writers, students, theorists and readers to explore the genre. Theorists
and critics from Angel Flores, Luis Leal, Susan J. Napier, Amaryll Beatrice
Chanady and Wendy B. Faris have their own definition about magic realism in
literature.
Angel Flores (113-116) asserts that magical realism is a transformation
of the unreal as part of reality. It involves the fusion of the real and the fantastic,
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or as he claims, “an amalgamation of realism and fantasy.” The presence of the
supernatural in magical realism is often connected to the primeval or magical
native mentality, which exists in opposition to European rationality. Luis Leal
(119-123) defined magical realism as inexplicable event that human being
experience as a mysterious relationship in their life and not the principle of
creation or circumstances of imagination. Magical realism, according to Susan J.
Napier (451), takes the upbringing of supernatural accompanied by the acceptance
of the society.
Meanwhile, Amaryll Beatrice Chanady (16-31) mentioned that magical
realism often to be connected to the primeval or miraculous Indian mentalities
which exist in conjunction with European rationality. She borrowed Floyd
Merrel‟s description of magical realism as an expression of the new world‟s
reality which at once combines the rational elements of the European super-
civilization and the irrational elements of a primitive America. Wendy B. Faris (1)
asserts that magical realism emerged to describe a fiction containing magical and
realistic elements and it becomes “the most important contemporary trend in
international fiction.”
Magical realism is considered as the most international contemporary
trend which resembles a tent covering widespread distribution among writers.
Allowing writers, “who have made the world at large their homeland…, [magical
realism] constitutes a discourse for a kind of international literary diaspora, a
fictional cosmopolitanism of wide application” (Faris 101).
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In 1980s, Latin America, magical realism was labeled as a well-
established canon around the entire world, and mostly became correlated with
colonized countries in particular. Especially when Gabriel Garcia Marquez won
the Nobel Prize for literature in 1982 due to his masterpiece One Hundred Years
of Solitude, the term “magical realism” became famous around the world.
In Magic(al) Realism, Bowers (32) wrote that “it must be acknowledged
that Latin America is an important location for magical realist literary
production”. This statement refers to numbers of magic realist works, such as
works produced by Latin American writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alejo
Carpentier, Carlos Fuentes, Jorge Luis Borges, Miguel Angel Asturias and Isabel
Allende. However, as the development continued, non-Latin American writers
appeared such as Salman Rushdie, Gunter Grass, Toni Morrison, Ben Okri,
Patrick Suskind and Haruki Murakami.
Haruki Murakami1 with his short story entitled A Shinagawa Monkey
becomes an object of this research then. Murakami usually employs magical
realistic techniques to assert the importance of individual identity in the face of
social stream of socialization. He uses these techniques to “challenge and explore
the concept of individual identity in Japan… Murakami‟s raison d'être as a writer
1 Born in Kyoto in 1949, Haruki Murakami is a famous Japanese contemporary writer.
Since the time of his childhood, though his father was a teacher of Japanese literature, he rejected
Japanese literature, art and music and came to identify Western culture instead. He studied drama
at Waseda University. His debut in writing happened in 1978 in which he wrote Hear the Wind
Sing that immediately won Gunzo Literary Prize. He also won Yomiuri Literary prize (1995),
Kuwabara Takeo Academic Award (1998), Franz Kafka Prize (2006) and many more. His works
has been translated into forty languages and sold more than eighty million copy around the entire
world. Beside writing novels and short stories, he also translates books by American and European
writers into Japanese. His notable works include Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,
Kafka and the Shore and 1Q84. Due to his contribution in writing, Haruki Murakami is considered
as an important figure in post-modern literature. The Guardian praised him as one of the greatest
living novelist.
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is to expose the steady of individual identity in members of the generation born
immediately after the Second World War, and each succeeding generation
thereafter” (Strecher 263).
A Shinagawa Monkey is a short story about a woman named Mizuki who
forgets her name because a monkey has stolen it. Mizuki sometimes had trouble
remembering her name. She‟d been married a few years when her name started to
slip away from her. One day she came across an ad for a counseling center
offering private sessions at a reduce rate. Mizuki told her story to the counselor,
Tetsuko Sakaki. She‟d grown up in an ordinary family. Her mother was a bit of a
nag. She‟d gone away to a boarding school. Nothing dramatic had touched her
life.
After several incidents, the counselor asked if she remembered any
incidents involving names and Mizuki recalled the use of name tags at the
boarding school she attended. On October, a girl named Yuko, one of the prettiest,
a most accomplished students in the school came to see her. Yuko asked Mizuki if
she had ever felt jealous. Mizuki could not think of any instances and did not see
how Yuko could be jealous of anyone. Yuko explained, “Jealousy is like a tumor
growing inside you. There‟s nothing you can do to stop it.” Yuko said she was
going home for a funeral and asked if Mizuki would look after her name tag. “I
don‟t want a monkey running off with it.” Yuko did not come back. They found
her body a week later. She had slit her wrists.
Mizuki looked for the name tags, which she had kept. But they were
gone. After ninth session, Mrs. Sakaki said, “If things go as planned I should be
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able to determine a definite cause and even show it to you.” The following week,
Mrs. Sakaki took something out of her purse. It was the two name tags from
school. She told Mizuki that the name tags were stolen from her and that is why
Mizuki had trouble remembering her name.
She took Mizuki to the basement where her husband and another man
waited. In a small storage room there was a chair on which a monkey was sitting.
The monkey said sorry to Mizuki for he had taken people‟s names. He‟d tried to
steal Yuko‟s name and had traced it to Mizuki. Mrs. Sakaki thought the monkey
should be killed, but the monkey pleaded, saying that, by taking Mizuki‟s name,
he had also taken certain dark aspects of her personality away. Had he been able
to take Yuko‟s name in time, she might not have killed herself.
Based on a brief explanation above, this research aims to find the
characteristics of magical realism in A Shinagawa Monkey short story. Wendy B.
Faris‟ concept regarding characteristics of magical realism, as contained in her
book entitled Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and Remystification of
Narrative, will be applied in this research. This concept is adequate to be the
analytic tool in this research. The explanation regarding definition and elements
which become the structure of magic realism in which Faris formulated is detailed
and applicable.
B. Focus of the Study
Based on background of the study above, this research focuses on
finding the characteristics of magical realism in A Shinagawa Monkey short story
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by Haruki Murakami, using the concept of characteristics of magic realism by
Wendy B. Faris.2
C. Research Question
In line with the focus of the study—finding the characteristics of magical
realism in the short story—the research question would be as the following:
1. How is the characteristics of magical realism contained in A
Shinagawa Monkey short story?
D. Significance of the Study
Generally, the writer expects, by doing this research, to add knowledge
any further in literary world and give contribution to literary critical world.
Specifically, the writer expects to get knowledge regarding magical realist
narrative mode as one of the model of postmodern narrative mode, especially its
application in Haruki Murakami‟s A Shinagawa Monkey.
E. Research Methodology
1. The Objective of Research
The objective of this research is to find the characteristics of magical
realism in A Shinagawa Monkey short story by Haruki Murakami.
2. The Method of Research
Looking at the research question and the objective of the research, the
method used in this research is qualitative method. Qualitative is a research using
2 Wendy B Faris is a professor of English and Comparative Literature at University of
Texas at Arlington. Her main fields are in Comparative Literature and Modern and Contemporary
Fiction. Her areas of interest include Modern Literature, Primitivism, Magical Realism, Proust,
Virginia Woolf and Carlos Fuentes. She published several books including Ordinary
Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative and also several journals.
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verbal data and other non-numeric data as the basic analysis and in solving the
problems being studied (Farkhan 2).
3. The Instrument of the Research
This qualitative research sets the writer as the main instrument in
collecting data regarding characteristics of magical realism in A Shinagawa
Monkey short story by Haruki Murakami. First, by reading the short story
carefully, then noting the textual units—words, punctuation, phrases, sentences,
paragraphs or series of events—from the short story concerning the objective of
the research and Wendy B. Faris‟ concept about characteristics of magical
realism.
The last step is categorizing those texts based on each characteristics—
magic data which has the irreducible element, real data which is the builder of the
phenomenal world, magic data that cause hesitation for the reader as Faris calls it
the unsettling doubt. The next data is the data indicates the merging of two
world—magical world and real world—or merging realms and the last data is
disruption of time, space and identity.
4. The Unit of Analysis
The unit of analysis in this research is A Shinagawa Monkey short story
by Haruki Murakami that is included in a collected stories entitled Blind Willow,
Sleeping Woman, published by Vintage in 2006 and translated from Japanese by
Philip Gabriel.3
3 J. Philip Gabriel is a full professor and department chair of the University of Arizona‟s
Department of East Asian Studies and is one of the major translators into English of the works of
the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. He is also the translator of works by Nobel Prize-winner
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5. The Technique of Data Analysis
Collected and classified, the data will be analyzed based on the concept
used in this research. Classified into five characteristics, the data need to be
verified and studied in order to assure that each data are placed on the right
element. Placed on each element, the relation between realistic and magical data
have to be searched. The relation is determined based on logical principal, that is,
the possibility of the existence of contradiction, overlap or hierarchy between
realism and magic.
6. Research Design
This research consists of four chapter. Chapter I is Introduction, started
with Background of the Study, Focus of the Study, Research Question,
Significance of the Study and ended with Research Methodology in which
consists of The Objective of Research, The Method of Research, The Instrument
of the Research, The Unit of Analysis, The Technique of Data Analysis and
Research Design.
Chapter II is entitled The Theoretical Description. It consists of Previous
Research in which contained the previous research that uses Haruki Murakami‟s A
Shinagawa Monkey as the object of the research and The Concept of
Kenzaburo Oe, such as Somersault, and Senji Kuroi, such as Life in the Cul-De-Sac. Dr. Gabriel is
also the author of Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese
Literature. He is currently a professor of modern Japanese literature and Department head of East
Asian Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and his translations have appeared
in The New Yorker, Harper’s and other publications. Dr. Gabriel is the recipient of the 2001
Sasakawa Prize for Japanese Literature, the 2001 Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for
Translation of Japanese Literature, and the 2006 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
for Kafka on the Shore.
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Characteristics of Magical Realism that describes Wendy B. Faris‟ concept of
characteristics of magical realist fictions.
Chapter III is entitled Data Analysis. It consists of the analysis of five
characteristics of magical realism contained in A Shinagawa Monkey short story.
Chapter IV is Conclusions and Suggestions which contains the
conclusion of the analysis and suggestions for those who want to research magical
realism in literary works.
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CHAPTER II
THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION
A. Previous Research
Thus far, there have been found two studies that analyze A Shinagawa
Monkey short story by Haruki Murakami which is written in the form of journals
by Suzanne LaLonde.4 The first journal is entitled The Construction of a
Conscious Mind in Haruki Murakami’s “A Shinagawa Monkey.” Referring to the
view of materialists such as Penrose, Damasio and Penfield on consciousness,
Suzanne, in the journal, examines the construction of Mizuki‟s conscious mind
and the conscious development of hers as she encounters versions of herself in the
unconscious realm.
The last one is entitled Trauma, Pseudodementia, and Magical Realism
in Haruki Murakami’s “A Shinagawa Monkey.” Using trauma theories advanced
by Henry Krystal, LaLonde discusses trauma and pseudodementia occurred to the
main character of the story, Mizuki, and how she journeys to unconscious realm
as she meets the talking monkey in which Suzanne considers Murakami using
literary technique of magical realism to introduce the reader to Mizuki‟s
unconscious realm.
Other than the aforementioned journals, there is no found any research
studying Haruki Murakami‟s A Shinagawa Monkey, especially using Wendy B
4 Suzanne LaLonde is an Associate Professor of French at the University of Texas at
Brownsville. Her area of research focuses on the 20th
century French novel and contemporary
world fiction from psychoanalytic and trauma theory perspectives.
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Faris‟ theory to find the characteristics of magical realism in the short story as in
this research.
B. The Concept of Characteristics of Magical Realism by Wendy B. Faris
This research uses magical realism theory introduced by Wendy B. Faris.
In her book entitled Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and
Remystification of Narrative, Faris defines magical realism as the term appeared
in the early twentieth century, now probably becomes a trend in international
fiction. She asserts that magical realism emerged to describe a fiction containing
magical and realistic elements. Faris (1) adds that this kind of magical realist work
becomes “the most important contemporary trend in international fiction.”
Magical realism has become so important as a mode of expression
worldwide, because it has provided the literary ground for significant
cultural work; within its texts, marginal voices, submerged traditions,
and emergent literatures have developed and created masterpieces (Faris
1).
The ideas of culture emerged in texts, according to Faris, has become
interesting because in this magical realistic narrative technique, the marginalized
voices re-emerge. Literary works dominated by western realist perspective have
become equal in magical realism with the presence of magical elements
represented by eastern culture.
Other than used to re-emerge the marginalized voices in which vanished
by the domination of western culture, this magical realistic narrative technique
also used to “radically modifies and replenishes the dominant mode of realism in
the west, challenging its basis of representation from within” (Faris 1). In other
words, this technique is used to question back the structure of realism that has
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been arranged by western perspective and bring out resistance/challenge toward
the structure of realism that also emerge from it. The comprehension built by Faris
here is how the marginalized voices that have been submerged, appear later from
the inside of dominant elements which have been fulfilling a space considered as
realist.
Specifically, Faris (1) adds that “magical realism combines realism and
the fantastic so that the marvelous seems to grow organically within the ordinary,
blurring the distinction between them”. On the quote before, Faris asserts that the
marginalized voices that have been submerged, appear later through the voices
that have been fulfilling a space. Then on the quote above, it is explained again
that magical realism is the combination of realism and fantasy, in which in this
combination, the distinction between the two elements seems blur so things have
been considered marvelous seem natural and ordinary because the narrative
technique used is realistic narrative technique which contained magical elements
inside.
Due to it is indicated the contradiction between the two elements in
magical realist fiction; in which magical elements emerge inside realistic
elements, Faris (1) defines that “magical realism has also contributed to the
growth of a postmodern literary sensibility”. In other words, magical realist fiction
contain discontinuity between magical and realistic element emerged in one space.
This theory introduced by Faris is addressed to peel magical realist work.
Faris emphasizes that narrative in magical realism, is used by author to bring out
elements which submerged and disable to appear to literary work due to the
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domination presented by perspective of western realism. Therefore, magical
realistic narrative technique exists in order to modify the domination, that there is
the other element in this life—magical element that has been denied by the
domination of realism.
Magical realism “also represents innovation and the re-emergence of
submerged narrative traditions in metropolitan centers” (Faris 2). In other words,
Faris attempts to draw a conclusion that this magical realistic narrative technique
tries to bring out traditions considered unimportant by realist domination and the
so-called unimportant element then presented in metropolitan centers. Things that
have been considered real, are unsettled later by the presence of the marginalized
element (magic).
Based on Faris‟ explanation, the use of the theory, especially the concept
of magical realism characteristics in which according to Faris, magical realist
fiction has five characteristics consisted in it, that is, the irreducible elements, the
phenomenal world, merging realms, the unsettling doubts, and disruptions of time,
space and identity.
The first characteristic, the irreducible elements, contains characters and
magical events. According to Faris (7), the irreducible element, using opinions of
David Young and Keith Hollaman, is “something we cannot explain according to
the laws of the universe as they have been formulated in Western empirically
based discourse, that is, according to „logic, familiar knowledge or received
belief‟”. Therefore, it is difficult for readers to give any evidence in answering
questions regarding characters and events in magical realist fiction.
16
The inexplicable things are narrated in an ordinary way, so it feels such
as real things. The element irreducible, in magical realist fiction, is placed on
ordinary position as if it is a part of common life phenomenon. Despite magic
seems impossible to be a part of real life phenomenon, it is still paradoxically seen
as a real thing and really happening through a clear, concrete, and very detailed
depiction way which is realistic narrative technique. This depiction is “like a grain
in the oyster of that realism” (Faris 9-10).
As a consequence of the undeniable oddness, the concepts of empirical
logic that is familiar to the reader‟s point of view generally disrupts. During this
disruption later, the reader attempt to refill the disrupted logical space and attempt
to interpret and adjust the new form of logic with the previous logic. Thus, the
reader has an active role in creating writerly text.
And because it disrupts reading habits, that irreducible grain increases
the participation of readers, contributing to the postmodern proliferation
of writerly texts, texts co-created by their readers (Faris 9-10).
Faris wrote that the irreducible element employed in magic realist works
commonly highlight certain issues. The issue can be searched in in the context of
what happens outside literary works. In highlighting such issues, “irreducible
magic frequently disrupts the ordinary logic of cause and effect” (Faris 10).
The second characteristic of magic realism is the realistic side that Faris
calls it the phenomenal world. “Realistic descriptions create a fictional world that
resembles the one we live in, often by extensive use of detail” (Faris 14). This
phenomenal world is the real side of magical realism that prevent magical realist
17
fiction turning into fantasy in which it totally leaves the real world. This is why
magical realist fiction differs from fantasy and another allegory.
The magic presented in the real world is not something fantastic
appeared from nowhere, however, it is a mysterious element that vibrates behind
the phenomenal world. The phenomenal world which is the setting for the magical
elements is divided into two kinds, that is, first the reality in texts and second the
reality based on history. Reality, either the first kind or the second one, become
anchor for magic in order to not fly becoming fantastic stories.
The third characteristic of magical realism Faris mentioned is the
unsettling doubts. The unsettling doubts is a condition where the reader “hesitate
between two contradictory understanding of events” before categorizing the
irreducible element as irreducible (Faris 17).
The hesitation depends on the cultural context of the reader. If he is
familiar with the culture based on empirical logic, he feels clumsy with magic
appeared in magical realist fiction, or vice versa, if he is familiar with the culture
based on magical logic he feels fine with the presence of magic in magical realist
fiction. Especially for Western readers, hesitation exists due to the magic is
narrated with empirical perspective and realistic mode. According to Faris, the
hesitation often happens due to the unification of different belief in magic realism.
The question of believe is central here, this hesitation frequently
stemming from the implicit clash of cultural systems within the
narrative, which moves toward belief in extrasensory phenomena but
narrates from the post-Enlightenment perspective and in the realistic
mode that traditionally exclude them (Faris 17).
18
Hesitation can blur the irreducible element so it is not easy to see the
irreducible element as it is. The hesitation happened to Western contemporary
readers exists between understanding the event as a character‟s dream or
hallucination and understanding it as a miracle. The scenes in magic realism
probably look like dreams yet they are not dreams, and texts can co-opt them by
categorizing them as dreams and prohibit that co-optation.
Magical realist scenes may seem dreamlike, but they are not dreams, and
the text may both tempt us to co-opt them by categorizing them as
dreams and forbid that co-optation (Faris 17).
Such as scenes in dreams, hesitation can blur the irreducible element.
Magical realist scenes may seem dreamlike, however, as dream they are doubtful
due to the properties of the dreams is remarkable. As we know, in certain culture,
a dream is often considered as a part of magical phenomenon, either revelation or
prophecy toward upcoming events. We are often guided by the text to hesitate yet
we can also hesitate due to the amazing properties. There are three kinds of
hesitation, according to Faris, that is, hesitation caused by the text, hesitation
caused by object property, and hesitation caused by the reader‟s cultural
background itself.
The fourth characteristic of magic realism is merging realms. In this
characteristic, the reader can feel the closeness and the unification of the two
world. From cultural history perspective, merging realms in magical realism often
unite traditional world with modern world. Ontologically, merging realms in
magical realism unite magical world with material world. Seen from the merge of
the word „realism‟ and „magic‟ in this genre, this narrative technique can be
19
considered as a technique that unify the sides of two contradictory worlds, that is
unifying realistic element with fantasy.
From a metafictional perspective, if fiction is exhausted in this world,
then perhaps these texts create another contiguous one into which it
spills over, so that it continues life beyond the grave, so to speak (Faris
22).
In the process of unifying those two worlds, magical realism exists in a
space of the in-between or a space of uncertainty. It is two expanded worlds. And
it is not the matter of either real or imaginary anymore, but the other side of the
visible reality. In the process of unifying or merging the two worlds, magical
realism blurs the boundary between real and fiction by removing the mediation
among different realities.
The fifth characteristic of magic realism, according to Faris, is disruption
of time, space, and identity. In this part, Faris opened her argument by quoting
Jameson stating that spatial forms and temporal tradition are abolished by
realism‟s homogeneity.
As Fredric Jameson sets out the project of realism, one thing it achieves
is “the emergence of a new space and a new temporality” because
realism‟s spatial homogeneity abolishes the older forms of sacred space.
Likewise the newly measuring clock and measurable routine replace
“older forms of ritual, sacred, or cyclical time.” Even as we read
Jameson‟s description, we sense the erosion of this program by magical
realist texts—and by other modern and postmodern ones as well (Faris
24).
If the measures of temporal modern becomes a target for magical realism
to represent the forms of magical temporal measure threw by modern, the spatial
forms isolated by modern is also represented through this narrative technique. In
20
magical realism, the boundary of spatial magic that should be separated from
spatial real, leaks into the entire texts and vice versa.
Like their nineteenth-century Gothic predecessors, many magical realist
fictions delineate near-sacred or ritual enclosures, but these sacred spaces
are not watertight; they leak their magical narrative waters over the rest
of the texts and the worlds they describe, just as that exterior reality
permeates them (Faris 24).
On depicting individual identity, “the multivocal nature of the narrative
and the cultural hybridity that characterize magical realism extends to its
characters, which tend toward a radical multiplicity” (Faris 25). These natures
emerge into physical of characters. Identity, in modern perspective which is a
single entity exists inside an individual and differentiate him with another entity,
experience the disruption so number of forms appear inside an individual. Thus,
as Faris stated, this last nature breaks the order known in modern world and show
the other marginalized forms in modernism.
Overall, five characteristics defining magic realism give depiction how
the narrative structure of magic realism, as a narrative technique, unites magical
elements and realist narrative technique inside itself. Through that five
characteristics, it is also seen the relationship between the two such as the overlap
between magic and real that makes doubts, the meeting between magic and real
inside in-between, and the disruption caused by interaction of magical elements
toward the concepts of realism.
21
CHAPTER III
DATA ANALYSIS
A. The Data Description
A Shinagawa Monkey, a short story by Haruki Murakami narrated by the
omniscient narrator, relates the story of a woman who has trouble remembering
her name. She is in her mid twenties and has recently been married. There is some
confusion in her life concerning whether she should use her maiden name at work
or change all her personnel records to reflect the fact that she has taken on her
husband's last name. Her recent forgetfulness makes her think that her husband,
who is prone to intellectualize or rationalize every circumstance in their new lives
together, will believe that the reason she forgets her name is due to some inherent
unhappiness. Now that she is living with him, she might be having second
thoughts about their marriage, her husband might conclude. The forgetfulness is
merely a symptom of her regret.
The protagonist's name is Mizuki Ozawa Ando. She claims she is
happily married and does not regret anything about her married name. But
recently, whenever anyone asks her what her name is, she forgets, so she has
begun to wear a bracelet on which her name is engraved. But she still worries
about her forgetfulness and eventually goes to a doctor. The doctor suggests that
she see a counselor, as the problem probably is more psychological than physical.
Thus Mizuki begins a relationship with a psychologist, a female named
Tetsuko Sakaki. Over the course of several weeks, Mrs. Sakaki discovers the
reason behind Mizuki's loss of memory. It turns out that a monkey has stolen
22
Mizuki's name. Mrs. Sakaki's husband, who is a government official, wants to
destroy the monkey for torturing Mizuki in this way, but Mizuki forgives the
monkey. For this, the monkey reveals a secret. He tells Mizuki that her mother
and her older sister have never loved her.
B. Characteristics of Magical Realism in A Shinagawa Monkey
In finding the characteristics of magic realism, Wendy B. Faris‟ concept
of characteristics of magical realism is used as a tool in this research. Faris
suggests five primary characteristics of the mode as a basis for investigating the
nature and cultural work of magical realism. First, the text contains an
“irreducible element” of magic; second, the description in magical realism detail a
strong presence of the phenomenal world; third, the reader may experience some
unsettling doubts in the effort to reconcile two contradictory understandings of
events; fourth, the narrative merges different realms; and, finally, magical realism
disturbs received ideas about time, space and identity.
1. The Irreducible Element
The “irreducible element” is something we cannot explain according to
the laws of the universe as they have been formulated in Western empirically
based discourse, that is, according to “logic, familiar knowledge, or received
belief,” as David Young and Keith Hollaman describe it (Faris 7). Therefore, the
reader has difficulty marshaling evidence to settle questions about the status of
events and characters in such fictions.
In Haruki Murakami‟s A Shinagawa Monkey, magical element emerges
as a magical character, that is, a talking monkey. The magical element can be seen
23
from the emergence of a talking monkey in the third end of the story, that is when
Mizuki Ando, after doing some counseling with a local counselor named Tetsuko
Sakaki for weeks due to “she‟d had trouble remembering her own name,” along
with Mrs. Sakaki with the help of her husband working on Public Works
Department, Mr. Sakaki and his partner in capturing the culprit—the individual
that caused Mizuki losing her name (she lost her name tag and Yuko‟s name
tag)—met a talking monkey at a room that “looked like a small storage room of
some kind.”
He was large for a monkey—smaller than an adult human, but bigger
than an elementary-school student. His hair was a shade longer than is
usual for monkeys and was dotted with gray. It was hard to tell his age,
but he was definitely no longer young. The monkey‟s arms and legs were
tightly tied by a thin cord to the wooden chair, and his long tail drooped
on the floor. As Mizuki entered the monkey shot her a glance, then stared
back down at the ground.
A monkey?” Mizuki asked in surprise.
“That‟s right,” Mrs. Sakaki replied. “A monkey stole the name tags from
your apartment.”
“I‟m very sorry,” the monkey said, speaking for the first time, his voice
low but spirited, with almost a musical quality to it.
“He can talk!” Mizuki exclaimed, dumbfounded.
“Yes, I can,” the monkey replied, his expression unchanged. (Murakami
297)
From the quotation above, it can be seen the emergence of magical
characters in the form of a talking monkey. The narrator is present and asserts that
the monkey can talk. Thus indirectly the narrator asserts that the monkey can talk.
At first, Mizuki was surprised why the individual stealing the name tags is a
monkey. Explained by Mrs. Sakaki that it‟s “right, a monkey stole the name tags”
from her apartment, still, Mizuki was surprised by asking “But how could you—
?” to Mrs. Sakaki. Afterward Mrs. Sakaki related the story about the monkey
24
sneaking into Mizuki‟s apartment and stealing the name tags from the closet right
around the time she began forgetting her name. Until the monkey talked, “I‟m
very sorry,” right after that, “Mizuki exclaimed, dumbfounded.”
Seen from Mizuki‟s reaction in which she was dumbfounded after
hearing a monkey talk, it can be indicated that it is a bizarre case, not the one
generally occurred. It is because being dumbfounded is a normal reaction when
someone hearing a monkey talk. Thus, the talking monkey is contrary to empirical
based discourse because it is, for sure, beyond logic. Mizuki‟s response toward the
talking monkey is rational since there have not been any monkey which can talk
such as human beings. This is what makes the talking monkey is identified as the
irreducible element.
Aside from that, the talking monkey becomes irreducible element
because not only Mizuki that‟s present at the scene but the other character, Mr.
Yoshio Sakaki, Mrs. Tetsuko Sakaki and Mr. Sakurada are present as well. Those
characters accept the presence of the talking monkey. They are not surprised with
the talking monkey. It is because, as Faris (8) said, the irreducible elements rarely
cause any comment by narrators or characters, who model such an acceptance for
their readers. The characters do not comment the presence of the talking monkey,
questioning whether it has ability to talk or not. They accept the monkey‟s
presence instead without question as in the following.
Yes, I can,” the monkey replied, his expression unchanged. “There‟s one
other thing I need to apologize for. When I broke into your place to steal
the name tags, I helped myself to a couple of bananas. I hadn‟t planned
to take anything besides the name tags, but I was so hungry, and though I
knew I shouldn‟t, I ended up snatching two bananas that were on the
table. They just looked too good to pass up.”
25
“The nerve of this guy,” Mr. Sakurada said, slapping the black nightstick
in his hands a couple of times. “Who knows what else he swiped. Want
me to grill him a little to find out?”
“Take it easy,” Mr. Sakaki told him. “He confessed about the bananas
himself, and besides, he doesn‟t strike me as such a brutal sort. Let‟s not
do anything drastic until we hear more facts. If they find out we
mistreated an animal inside the ward office we could be in deep trouble.”
(Murakami 297-298)
“Maybe not,” Mrs. Sakaki said, arms folded, after she‟d given it some
thought. “He might have a point after all.” She turned to the monkey.
“When you steal names you take on both the good and the bad?”
“Yes, that‟s right,” the monkey said. (Murakami 300)
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Mr. Sakurada, Mr. Sakaki
and Mrs. Sakaki accept the presence of the monkey. They do not comment about
the presence of the talking monkey. They react normally as if talking to fellow
human beings. Mizuki also does not comment, just dumbfounded. After that she
accepts the presence of the monkey, asking the monkey “why did you steal the
name tags?” and so on. She does not question the monkey why he can talk. The
narrator indirectly does not give a comment as well. Thus, it can be such an
acceptance for western readers. This is why the talking monkey becomes
irreducible element. Besides that, the narrative voice reports the aforementioned
magical event which cannot be verifiable by sensory perception, in the same way
as ordinary events are recounted. The magical event occurred in A Shinagawa
Monkey short story involves concretely detailed descriptions.
Magical images or events often highlight central issues in a text. In A
Shinagawa Monkey short story, the emergence of the talking monkey underlines
Mizuki‟s problem. She has a problem remembering her own name. The talking
monkey is presented by the author in order to solve Mizuki‟s psychological
problem. The monkey once said that “I‟m a monkey who takes people‟s names.
26
It‟s a sickness I suffer from. Once I spot a name I can‟t help myself. I‟ll see a
name that attracts me, especially a person‟s name, and then I have to have it.” By
stealing Mizuki‟s name, the monkey is “also able to remove some of the negative
elements that stick” to her name. Remembering her name is not only Mizuki‟s
problem, but it is deeper than that as the talking monkey tells.
“All right,” the monkey said. “Then I‟ll tell you. Your mother doesn‟t
love you. She‟s never loved you, even once, since you were little. I don‟t
know why, but it‟s true. Your older sister‟s the same. She doesn‟t like
you. Your mother sent you away to school in Yokohama because she
wanted to get rid of you. Your mother and sister wanted to drive you
away as far as possible. Your father isn‟t a bad person, but he isn‟t what
you‟d call a forceful personality, and he couldn‟t stand up for you. For
these reasons, then, ever since you were small you‟ve never gotten
enough love. I think you‟ve had an inkling of this, but you‟ve
intentionally turned your eyes away from it, shut this painful reality up in
a small dark place deep in your heart and closed the lid, trying not to
think about it. Trying to suppress any negative feelings. This defensive
stance has become part of who you are. Because of all this, you‟ve never
been able to deeply, unconditionally love anybody else.”
“Your married life seems happy and problem-free. And perhaps it is. But
you don‟t truly love your husband. Am I right? Even if you were to have
a child, if things don‟t change it would just be more of the same.”
(Murakami 301-302)
From the quotation above we can see that, through the talking monkey,
Mizuki is finally aware of her problem. She tries to avoid it all the time and she
always close her eyes to it, shut her ears. It is through the monkey, the narrator
reveals Mizuki‟s psychological problem. Here the presence of the talking
monkey—the magical character—underlines the issue contained in A Shinagawa
Monkey short story, that is, Mizuki‟s psychological problem.
In the course of highlighting such issues, irreducible magic frequently
disrupts the ordinary logic of cause and effect. In the short story, irreducible
magic which is the talking monkey disrupts the ordinary logic of cause and effect.
27
Mizuki has trouble remembering her own name because the monkey stole her
name tag from her apartment.
“So this monkey stole the name tags?” Mizuki asked.
“Yes, he sneaked into your apartment and stole the name tags from your
closet. Right around the time you began forgetting your name, about a
year ago, I believe?”
“Yes, it was around then.” (Murakami 297)
From the conversation above, it is known that after the monkey stole the
name tags, Mizuki began forgetting her name. The event is empirically against the
laws of the universe. There is no strange effect if your name tag got stolen by
monkey—in Mizuki‟s case, she forgets her own name. This is where the ordinary
logic of cause and effect is disrupted by irreducible magic in the short story.
Someone who has trouble remembering her own name just because a monkey has
stolen her name tag is contrary to the laws of the universe.
2. The Phenomenal World
A second characteristic of magical realism is that its descriptions detail a
strong presence of the phenomenal world. This is the realism in magical realism,
distinguishing it from much fantasy and allegory. It appears in several ways.
Realistic descriptions create a fictional world that resembles the one we live in,
often by extensive use of detail (Faris 14). The magic presented in the real world
is not something fantastic appeared from nowhere, however, it is a mysterious
element that vibrates behind the phenomenal world.
The phenomenal world which is the setting for the magical elements is
divided into two kinds, that is, first the reality in texts and second the reality based
on history. Reality, either the first kind or the second one, become anchor for
28
magic in order to not turn into fantastic stories. In A Shinagawa Monkey, though
there is magical element contained in the story, it is wrapped with realistic
description. The phenomenal world in the story includes objects and places.
A Shinagawa Monkey short story contains real objects that we often meet
in the real world such as the following,
...getting the sleeves of a dress altered... (Murakami 281).
...to pull out her driver's license... (Murakami 281).
...she had her purse with her... (Murakami 281).
...bought a thin simple bracelet... (Murakami 281).
She extracted her name tag from her pocket... (Murakami 291).
...she took out an old cardboard box wrapped in tape from the back of her
closet. She'd put Yuko's name tag in there along with her own, inside an
envelope. All sorts of memorabilia of Mizuki's life were stuffed inside the
box—old letters from grade school, diaries, photo albums, report cards
(Murakami 293).
She put her black-barreled ballpoint pen back in her pocket and tightly
clasped her hands on the desktop (Murakami 294).
From a black enamel handbag beside her Mrs. Sakaki took out something
and laid it on the desk. On the desk were two name tags. Mizuki Ozawa
was written on one of them, Yuko Matsunaka on the other (Murakami
295).
Sakurada was holding a black nightstick in his hands (Murakami 296).
From the quotations above we can see the presence of ordinary objects
such as dress, driver‟s license, purse, bracelet, pocket, name tag, cardboard box,
envelope, letters, diaries, photo albums, report cards, ballpoint pen, handbag, desk
and nightstick. Of all the aforementioned objects, there are no such strange things
found. They all are real objects we people commonly see in the real life. By
presenting such objects, it indicates the author trying to build the world on the
story based on reality we have commonly known. In addition, the presence of
such objects is not contrary to the laws of universe since we accept the presence of
them in reality and our sense do not conflict with them.
29
Other than such objects, the places contained in the story also resembles
the ones in reality such as the following,
Mizuki went to a jewelry shop... (Murakami 281).
...operated a small clinic in Sakata City, in the far north prefecture of
Yamagata (Murakami 281).
...bought a condo in a new building in Shinagawa. (Murakami 282).
...worked in a lab in a pharmaceutical company. (Murakami 282).
...worked at a Honda dealership (Murakami 282).
Mizuki went to a large hospital (Murakami 284).
…she arrived at the counseling center on the third floor of the ward office
(Murakami 285).
Mrs. Sakaki was seated behind a plain metal office desk (Murakami 285).
I was from Nagoya and the school was in Yokohama so I lived in a dorm
at school and went home on the weekends (Murakami 288).
I was in my room, doing homework... (Murakami 289).
Mizuki was at her desk, listening to the radio in her room... (Murakami
290).
...when Mizuki entered the counseling office, Mrs. Sakaki sat there behind
her desk... (Murakami 295).
Mizuki followed Mrs. Sakaki out of the counseling office, down the
hallway, and into the elevator. They got off at the basement, walked down
a long deserted corridor, came up to a door at the very end. There was
another door at the rear of the room. Mr. Sakurada opened it, and switched
on the light. He made a quick sweep of the room...The room looked like a
small storage of some kind. There was no furniture, just one chair, on
which a monkey was sitting (Murakami 296).
This monkey was hiding in the sewers in Shinagawa (Murakami 299).
From the quotations above, it is known that several places in the story are
in some cities in Japan such as Sakata, a city in the far north prefecture of
Yamagata, Shinagawa, a special ward in Tokyo Metropolis Prefecture, Nagoya,
the capital city of Aichi Prefecture which is located in on the Pacific coast on
central Honshu Island, and Yokohama, the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture
which is located on Tokyo Bay, the south of Tokyo.
Other than cities, there are places, as quoted above, contained in the story
we often visit or see such as jewelry shop, clinic, laboratory, hospital, Honda
30
dealership, counseling office, school, dormitory, bed room, storage room, sewers
and office. From those descriptions, we can see the story is built by using realistic
descriptions that create the world in A Shinagawa Monkey short story resembling
the one we live in. Such objects and places that has been mentioned before which
exist in the real world are presented into the text so becomes the anchor for magic
in order that magic does not become fantastic story. Overall, in the story, the
descriptions detail a strong presence of the phenomenal world.
3. Unsettling Doubts
The unsettling doubts is a condition where the reader hesitates between
two contradictory understanding of events before categorizing the irreducible
element as irreducible. Hesitation depends on the reader‟s cultural context. If the
reader is familiar with the culture based on empirical logic, he feels clumsy with
magic appeared in magical realist fiction, or vice versa, if the reader is familiar
with the culture based on magical logic he feels fine with the presence of magic in
magical realist fiction. Especially for Western readers, hesitation exists due to the
magic is narrated with empirical perspective and realistic mode (Faris 17).
In Haruki Murakami‟s A Shinagawa Monkey, the talking monkey‟s
presence as magical character creates hesitation for western readers, who
generally believe on empirical logic, as in the following,
“I‟m very sorry,” the monkey said, speaking for the first time, his voice
low but spirited, with almost a musical quality to it.
“He can talk!” Mizuki exclaimed, dumbfounded.
“Yes, I can,” the monkey replied, his expression unchanged. (Murakami
297)
31
From the conversation above, we can see that the monkey can talk to
human being. The moment when it comes to the part where the monkey opened its
mouth, talking to Mizuki, there is a hesitation happened to the western reader. The
western reader hesitates whether it can be explained by the laws of the natural
universe or not. Empirically, the event is beyond logic. Since there have not been
found any monkey that can talk like human beings, when the western reader read
the scene in the story where a monkey can talk, they are, for sure, hesitate due to it
is contrary to the laws of the universe and empirically unacceptable.
In addition, there is one more event that makes the western reader
hesitate as in the following,
“Yes, he sneaked into your apartment and stole the name tags from your
closet. Right around the time you began forgetting your name, about a year
ago, I believe?”
“Yes, it was around then.” (Murakami 297)
From the conversation above, it is concluded that the monkey stole the
name tags from Mizuki‟s apartment and as Mizuki said, it was around the time
when she began forgetting her name. The event is doubtful because it raises a
question for the western readers whether one could really forget her name just
because the monkey had stolen your name tag. Empirically, such event has not
been proved until now and it is against the laws of the universe. Thus, the western
readers experience some unsettling doubt toward this event.
4. Merging Realms
The fourth characteristic of magic realism is merging realms. The reader
experiences the closeness or near-merging of two realms. “In terms of cultural
history, magical realism often merges ancient or traditional—sometimes
32
indigenous—and modern worlds. Ontologically, within the texts, it integrates the
magical and the material. Generically, it combines realism and the fantastic (Faris
21). Seen from the merge of the word „realism‟ and „magic‟ in this genre, this
narrative technique can be considered as a technique that unify the sides of two
contradictory worlds, that is unifying realistic element with fantasy.
In A Shinagawa Monkey, after Mrs. Sakaki told Mizuki that the one
stealing the name tags from her apartment had been captured, Mizuki agreed to
meet with the culprit. “Mizuki followed Mrs. Sakaki out of the counseling office,
down the hallway, and into the elevator. They got off at the basement, walked
down a long deserted corridor, came up to a door at the very end” (Murakami
295). Mrs. Sakaki and Mizuki enter the room after Mr. Sakaki and Mr. Sakurada
told them to come in. Mrs. Sakaki introduced them to Mizuki. Afterwards, Mr.
Sakurada opened “another door at the rear of the room,” “switch on the light” and
“made a quick sweep of the room with his eyes and turned to the others,” inviting
them to come in.
“The room looked like a small storage room of some kind. There was no
furniture, just one chair, on which a monkey was sitting. He was large
for a monkey—smaller than an adult human, but bigger than an
elementary-school student. His hair was a shade longer than is usual for
monkeys and was dotted with gray. It was hard to tell his age, but he was
definitely no longer young. The monkey‟s arms and legs were tightly
tied by a thin cord to the wooden chair, and his long tail drooped on the
floor. As Mizuki entered the monkey shot her a glance, then stared back
down at the ground.”
“A monkey?” Mizuki asked in surprise.
“I‟m very sorry,” the monkey said...
“He can talk!” Mizuki exclaimed, dumbfounded.
“Yes, I can,” the monkey replied, his expression unchanged.
(Murakami 295-296)
33
From the quotation above, with the presence of the talking monkey
which is the irreducible magic or magical character exists in the material world in
which in that scene, the setting is the room that “looked like a small storage room”
at the office building where Mr. Sakaki, Mrs. Sakaki and Mr. Sakurada work, plus
there is a chair—it supports the presence of phenomenal world—on which the
monkey was sitting, we can experience the closeness or the merging of two
worlds. In the short story, magic realism, as Faris (22) said, integrates the magical
and the material. The magical here, as explained before, is magical entity—the
talking monkey—whereas the material here is the room where the scene occurred.
5. Disruptions of Space, Time and Identity
In addition to merging different worlds, magical realist fictions disturb
received ideas about time, space and identity. In Haruki Murakami‟s A Shinagawa
Monkey, our sense of space is disrupted when Mr. Sakaki, Mrs. Sakaki, Sakurada
and Mizuki enter the the room where the talking monkey sat on a chair, tied.
“The room looked like a small storage room of some kind. There was no
furniture, just one chair, on which a monkey was sitting. He was large
for a monkey—smaller than an adult human, but bigger than an
elementary-school student. His hair was a shade longer than is usual for
monkeys and was dotted with gray. It was hard to tell his age, but he was
definitely no longer young. The monkey‟s arms and legs were tightly
tied by a thin cord to the wooden chair, and his long tail drooped on the
floor. As Mizuki entered the monkey shot her a glance, then stared back
down at the ground.”
“A monkey?” Mizuki asked in surprise.
“I‟m very sorry,” the monkey said...
“He can talk!” Mizuki exclaimed, dumbfounded.
“Yes, I can,” the monkey replied, his expression unchanged. (Murakami
295-296)
From the quotation above, we can sense the disruption of space that
occurs. In its function as the real space, the room, which is the setting of the
34
conversation above, is disrupted because the presence of magical entity, that is,
the talking monkey. The room‟s function as the real space has turned into the
magical space because the presence of the irreducible magic.
There is a disruption happened to a character in the story who has
multiple identity. The character is obscure and has more than one identity
constructed in himself. In A Shinagawa Monkey, the talking monkey, as
irreducible magic, has multiple identity constructed in itself. Besides having its
natural identity in which as a monkey whose nature like the common monkey, the
talking monkey in the story has the identity which acts as a more psychologist for
Mizuki than Mrs. Sakaki did to Mizuki. The monkey reveals Mizuki‟s
psychological problem as follows.
“All right,” the monkey said. “Then I‟ll tell you. Your mother doesn‟t
love you. She‟s never loved you, even once, since you were little. I don‟t
know why, but it‟s true. Your older sister‟s the same. She doesn‟t like
you. Your mother sent you away to school in Yokohama because she
wanted to get rid of you. Your mother and sister wanted to drive you
away as far as possible. Your father isn‟t a bad person, but he isn‟t what
you‟d call a forceful personality, and he couldn‟t stand up for you. For
these reasons, then, ever since you were small you‟ve never gotten
enough love. I think you‟ve had an inkling of this, but you‟ve
intentionally turned your eyes away from it, shut this painful reality up in
a small dark place deep in your heart and closed the lid, trying not to
think about it. Trying to suppress any negative feelings. This defensive
stance has become part of who you are. Because of all this, you‟ve never
been able to deeply, unconditionally love anybody else.”
Mizuki was silent.
“Your married life seems happy and problem-free. And perhaps it is. But
you don‟t truly love your husband. Am I right? Even if you were to have
a child, if things don‟t change it would just be more of the same.”
(Murakami 300-301)
The monkey previously said that by stealing people‟s name, he is “able
to remove some of the negative elements that sticks to those names” (Murakami
35
300), then Mizuki asked the monkey “what evil things have stuck to my name”
(Murakami 301) and the monkey told Mizuki, as in the scene above, that her
mother and sister do not love her, willing to drive her away, that her father does
not stand up for her, that her problem is she intentionally shut her eyes from it,
shut the painful reality and trying not to think about it, that she attempts to
suppress any negative feelings. The monkey reveals all Mizuki‟s problem as if it
is a psychologist or to be more specific, as Suzanne LaLonde writes on her
journal, Mizuki‟s unconsciousness. Thus, our sense of identity is disrupted when
we encounter the talking monkey who has multiple identity, one as a monkey and
two as a psychologist himself.
From the previous analysis, it can be concluded that in A Shinagawa
Monkey short story, there are characteristics of magical realism which can be
found except disruption of time. First characteristic, the irreducible element, can
be found in a magical character, that is, the talking monkey. Second characteristic,
the phenomenal world, can be found in the places and the objects resembling the
ones in the real world in which they become the anchor for magic in order to
make the story not turning into fantasy.
Third characteristic, unsettling doubt, can be found when the western
readers are hesitate whether such monkey can really talk or not. Fourth
characteristic, merging realm, can be identified by the merging of two world
which takes place in the storage room where Mizuki, Mr. and Mrs. Sakaki and
Mr. Sakurada meet a magical character, the talking monkey. Fifth characteristic,
disruption of space, can be found in the storage room in which its function as a
36
real space is disrupted by the presence of a magical character. Meanwhile,
disruption of identity can be found in the talking monkey himself. He has multiple
identity constructed in himself—one as an animal, two as a psychologist.
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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
Based on the analysis, the characteristics of magical realism in A
Shinagawa Monkey short story by Haruki Murakami can be found by using the
concept of characteristics of magical realism by Wendy B. Faris. First, the
emergence of the talking monkey in the short story indicate the story contains
irreducible element of magic. Second, the existence of real objects and places in
the text such as dress, driver‟s license, purse, bracelet, pocket, name tag,
cardboard box, envelope, letters, diaries, photo albums, report cards, ballpoint
pen, handbag, desk, nightstick, Sakata, Shinagawa, Nagoya, Yokohama, jewelry
shop, clinic, laboratory, hospital, Honda dealership, counseling office, school,
dormitory, bed room, storage room, sewers and office detail a strong presence of
phenomenal world.
Third, the presence of the talking monkey in the story causes unsettling
doubts for western readers. Fourth, the encounter between four characters—
Mizuki, Mr. Sakaki, Mrs. Sakaki and Mr. Sakurada—and the talking monkey in
which takes places at the storage room merge different realms. Fifth, the room
where they encounter the talking monkey experiences disruption of space in
which its function turns into magical space from real space. Disruption of identity
is occurred to the talking monkey for he acts as a psychologist who reveal
Mizuki‟s problem despite its nature identity as an animal. In addition, disruption
38
of time cannot be found in the story, however, that does not affect the story to not
be called a magical realist fiction due to not all of the fiction Faris (23) discussed
in her book has disruption of time such as Carlos Fuentes‟ Distant Relations and
Patrick Suskind‟s Das Parfum.
B. Suggestions
One thing for sure appears from this research is that the result of this
research is not a final from this study, but it will be open the possibilities of wider
study such as studying defense mechanism of the main character of the story in
which it is interesting to be analyzed since the main character has her own way to
cope with her problems. Though this research is far from perfect, it is hoped that
readers will take benefit from it, considering research about magical realism in
fiction are rarely to be found in UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. The exploration
of magical realism is also very expected to be done in the next research. It stands
on the fact that magic realism becomes a choice for many writers around the
world as an alternative genre.
39
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