The Portrayal of Nature in Kafka on the Shore: An Ecolinguistics Analysis

Abstract

This qualitative research study utilizes an Eco Linguistic structure and uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to break down the depiction of nature in Haruki Murakami's novel, Kafka on the Shore. By analyzing how nature is addressed and constructed inside the text, the study plans to reveal the underlying discourses, ideologies, and linguistic strategies that shape our comprehension and relationship with the regular world. Drawing upon the categories of nature proposed by Lakoff and Johnson, the analysis investigates nature as a provider for human needs, wilderness, adversary, the object of scientific scrutiny and knowledge, source of aesthetic pleasure and pastime, the object of gaze, personification of human, commodity, inspiration for artistic/creative activities, entity to be protected and saved, human artifice, and reflection and revelation of God. This study adds to the field of Eco Linguistics by revealing insight into the manners by which language builds our view of nature, offering experiences into the discourses and philosophies encompassing the relationship between human and nature and their implications for environmental conscience and supportability.

Keywords:  Eco Linguistics, Nature, Discourses, Environmental Consciousness, Supportability