Manifestations of Creativity: Murakami Haruki as Translator

Murakami Haruki’s translations exhibit the visible influence of his novel writing. There are characteristic similarities between the protagonists in each set of work. These similarities are generated, not only by his use of Murakami buntai, as often discussed by literary critics; but also by translation choices, influenced by his writer’s creativity. This chapter argues that Murakami’s translations can be considered part of his writer’s oeuvre and not as subservient to their source texts, as translation is often perceived. It investigates the creativity in Murakami’s translations by applying the concept of literary translation as ‘life-writing’ (Nikolaou 2006). The chapter studies stylistic similarities between Murakami’s translations and novels, and the motives behind his translation choices, in order to discover how Murakami’s novel writing interacts with his translations. The chapter will ask how this interaction manifests in his translations, and how it might impact the way we understand Murakami’s literary works in general