Prompt: Do the assumptions of the work - the nature or even existence of good and evil for instance- reflect a different cultural orientation than that expressed in "western" horror or the gothic? In what specific ways do these assumptions seem to differ?
Response:
The reading for this week was A Wild Sheep Chase by internationally celebrated author Haruki Murakami. While his work can be hard to pigeon hole into any one genre and this particular book is more of a literary piece, it does share many elements associated with J Horror. Asian horror tends to revolve around a direct connection to the landscape and its spirits. Here, unlike in western culture, the supernatural is an omni present and chaotic neutral entity that has no clearly defined good and evil. This holds particularly true in Murakami's novel, which centers around a quest to find a sheep spirit which has been possessing men in order to "further the sheep agenda/consciousness." The sheep is portrayed as neither good nor evil, just a sheep living its life and doing what it does best (possessing humans). This stands in stark contrast to any western possession stories which demonize the entity in order to give the reader a classic a sense or fear and horror by visually stimulating their F3 responses. J Horror on the other hand finds another way to create a sense of fear and unease, and that is through apathy. In this genre biggest fear is of the mundane, loosing you're purpose, drive, identity and passion all in one fell swoop. In the novel the narrator and his girlfriend remain unnamed and they move about the story in an almost haze, dissociated from the strong emotionally triggers and moving through life and death in a constant and bleak state. While not classically scary per say this disconnect definitely succeeded in generating an uneasy almost supernatural feeling while reading, creating a strong argument for it to be classified as J horror.
