Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
8-2016
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Fine Arts
Degree Program
Art (Creative) and Art History with a concentration in Art History, MA
Committee Chair
Reitz, Chris
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Ma, Yuxin
Committee Member
Ma, Yuxin
Committee Member
Kim, Jongwoo Jeremy
Author's Keywords
Murakami; WWII; Nihonga; depersonalization; derealization
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to argue that Murakami’s art expresses the Japanese’s psychological suffering by showing their struggle between remembering themselves as victims but forgetting themselves as aggressors. I apply the Mitscherlichs’ psychoanalisys of the Germans’s psyche to the Japanese because their people have had similar experiences. The first section examines the history of Japan surrounding WWII in order to demonstrate its effects on the Japanese people’s psyche. The second section introduces Otaku to better understand Murakami’s art. The third section examines how selective retention works on the Japanese’s psyche. The fourth section analyzes how Murakami’s art represents depersonalization and derealization to demonstrate selective retention. After a discussion of Buddhism related to Murakami’s art, I draw conclusion.
Recommended Citation
Jeong, Yun Kweon, "Murakami-ego : collective culpability and selective retention." (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2497.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2497
