CC BY
1REPRESENTATION OF KEIKO FURUKURA AS ONE OF THE NOTABLE PROTAGONISTS IN SAYAKA MURATA'S NOVEL "CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN"
1Khalliyeva G.I., 2Petrosyan N.
1Professor, DSc, Head of World Literary studies Department, Uzbek State World Languages
University
2Senior teacher, Foreign languages and Literature Department, Nordik International University,
Uzbek State World Languages University https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13882486
Abstract. This article is devoted to Sayaka Murata's "Convenience store woman," the protagonist of her well-known I-novel. Murata is a contemporary Japanese author. The Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award, the most prestigious literary honor in Japan, was one of the numerous literary honors the novelist received in addition to enormous fame. Sayaka Murata's "Convenience store woman" novel is mostly autobiographical, drawing from her personal experiences. Through the lens of this autobiographical work, Murata presents a detailed analysis of many contemporary issues facing Japanese society.
Keywords: mentality of modern society, Sayaka Murata, I-novel, "Convenience store woman", autobiographical novel, autobiography, Japanese society, Japanese modern literature, word picture.
INTRODUCTION
Sayaka Murata is a contemporary Japanese author whose book "Convenience store woman" was released in 2016. It captures the vibe of a shop that Japanese people are accustomed to seeing, which is a crucial aspect of Japanese city life. In 2016, the book was awarded the Akutagawa Prize [6]. The majority of the work is autobiographical. Sayaka Murata has eighteen years of experience working at a minimarket. She wrote the well-known novel "Convenience store woman" based on her own experiences.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The I-novel "Convenience store woman" by Sayaka Murata was used as an example to provide more detailed information regarding the representation of women in contemporary Japanese literature.
Keiko Furukura, the novel's main female character, struggles with her anger since she doesn't conform to society's norms. She behaves in a way that she believes to be "normal," but because it deviates from the norm by being spontaneous and unique, her normal behavior is not accepted by society, which views it as irrational or natural [1]. Instead, it is seen as a total rej ection of her intentions. The book is written with hindsight. Our narrator, Keiko Furukura, has been employed at the same business for eighteen years at the start of the book.
Keiko suffered a severe psychological trauma as a child as a result of her direct and autonomous approach to the world. Everyone focused on getting her back to normal and making her fit in with society, trying to "cure" her of some illness that nobody could really explain to her. Her younger sister fills in this vacuum by explaining to her why people find her conduct weird and giving her advice on how to behave so that she doesn't provoke their disapproval and
condemnation. Her younger sister is her only human connection. Keiko makes the decision to conceal her true nature and adopt exterior of "normality" even as a young child. "I will no longer do anything on my own," she says. "I will either just imitate what everyone else is doing, or just follow the instructions [4]."
Furukura works as a shop assistant after graduating; for most students, this is a transitory part-time job, but for her, it's her dream career. She enjoys interacting and communicating with people on a regular basis in this environment with its clear norms. Like most Japanese establishments, the Japanese store follows a set of well-defined guidelines. Visitors are greeted with specific language (offers, gratitude, pleasantries) at the door, and they are expected to carry out daily activities (stocking shelves, getting products ready, assisting customers). She has been employed in this field for eighteen years because, to her, it fulfills every aspiration. Keiko finds her place in the store, allowing her to set aside the whims of her remarkable personality. Now that she's settled in, she can actually forget about her extraordinary personality and just become an unnoticeable human robot. Her life is essentially limited to her work. Keiko Furukura likewise depends on her coworkers' dispositions and conduct to preserve her "normalcy"[5]. She stealthily mimics them in all that she does. She once says, "My current self is almost completely formed from the people around me. Currently, I am 30 percent made up of Ms. Izumi, 30 percent of Sugawara, 20 percent of the manager, and the rest is occupied by previous colleagues [4]".
She finds it difficult to comprehend why her friends, family, and even coworkers believe that she has likely grown weary of working in a convenience store for a while and that one day she will want something other than to work here. Her tenure as the lowest-ranking employee in the organization no longer satisfies the moral requirements of the culture she works in. Furukura's sister, who has been there for her since she was a young girl, assists her in making up strange tales about her parents and failed romantic affairs in order to justify her extended stay in the minimarket and her single status. However, these arguments lose some of their persuasiveness as Furukura ages.
Although Furukura would be content to work in the store for the rest of her life, her society would not allow that. Her classmate's partner remarks, "If it's very difficult to find a good job, then at least you should get married," during a meeting she goes to [4].
But when she meets Shiraha, a recent hire at the minimarket who does not fit in at all with the computerized setting of the business, everything starts to shift. He was unable to work in the store for an extended period of time due to his gloomy, pessimistic outlook on everything. He believes that everyone is out to get him and that society has turned its back on him. As a result, he makes little effort to appear normal, and the minimarket fires him shortly after. However, as the main character gets to know him more, it becomes evident that Shiraha's incapacity to fit into society is what really causes his originally antagonistic attitude toward people. He acknowledges that "hunting for a bride" was the driving force behind his decision to apply for a job at the business [4].
Shiraha is a pitiful and yet eerily familiar representation of the type of young person who is unable to comprehend why he is such a failure in life and who lacks the will or motivation to make any sort of change in his circumstances. Furukura, feeling pressured by her friends and family to find a mate, might consider dating Shiraha. Their pretend marriage will make her friends and family stop questioning her all the time, and they will be at ease knowing that she has planned her personal life. The only thing Shiraha needs from her is to live in her bathroom, feed him like
a pet, and let him be entirely cut off from the outside world. In this instance, he is free to stop trying to defend his existence in a universe where the main character and society are both under pressure from preconceived notions and society norms. This is a contemporary illustration of the gender division of labor: Furukura is supposed to go out in public, work, and support the two of them, whilst Shiraha is supposed to stay at home and play on his tablet.
For Keiko, who is a workaholic, this is an opportunity to pretend to be in a loving relationship, while for a loafer man, living with Keiko is a great way to escape the unfairness of the harsh outside world. However, the delicate mental equilibrium that Keiko had preserved and reinforced over the course of these eighteen years is violated by their existence together [2].
The roommate's caustic comments reveal her emptiness—the glaring emptiness of her own space—which Keiko had been ignoring for far too long. Denial and refusal are rudimentary psychological defense mechanisms that are an unconscious attempt to cover up an issue whose existence is readily apparent to any outside observer. And in the perspective of others, the person who disputes the obvious appears foolish and strange.
When Furukura's coworkers and the minimarket's manager learn about her relationship with Shiraha, they too become fervently interested in her—not just as a fellow employee, but also as a woman desiring to have a family. Furukura finally leaves the store as a result of this unduly intense attention in her personal life. While her coworkers applaud her decision, believing that she is finally going to be able to marry and is leaving the convenience store for a better life.
Subsequently, Shiraha searches the Internet for a permanent position for Furukura. However, on the day of the interview, Furukura inadvertently discovers herself at a store without an order, which is not what she is used to from her previous job of many years. And when the main character notices this in a store, she acts impulsively to reorganize the merchandise and gives the employees helpful suggestions, for which they are extremely appreciative. Shiraha practically drags her out of the store, but Furukura realizes that she can only be a "minimarket person" and fully function in life.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The struggle of an isolated individual to find his position in society is the central theme of this piece, as was previously discussed. However, in order to integrate with it, you must be able to adjust and fit inside its parameters. Keiko Furukura tried to adapt to society by donning a mask of "normality" and fitting in, based on this reasoning. This is the price she had to pay to fit in, to keep her true identity hidden from the public, and to mindlessly follow all social norms. But because of the conversation with Shiraha, she was able to finally grasp her purpose and felt even more strongly that her calling was to work as an employee of the minimarket. She may now make intentional decisions, and Shiraha is not required to give the impression of wellbeing. She discovered who she was.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the autobiographical approach in literary studies is still important. Autobiographies still have an impact on a lot of writers, such as Sayaka Murata, whose book "Convenience Store Woman" is closely associated with this genre.
REFERENCES
1. Сайто Сатору. Алекситимия: эмоциональный разрыв, скрывающийся под маской нормальности, 2016. Режим доступа: https://www.nippon.com/ru/column/g00391/
2. An Indies Introduce Q&A with Sayaka Murata and Ginny Tapley Takemori, 2018. https://www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-qa-sayaka-murata-and-ginny-tapley-takemori-104717
3. Itakura Kimie. Aliens and Alienation: The Taboo-Challenging Worlds of "Earthlings" Author Murata Sayaka. October 23, 2020. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/e00175/
4. ^mtPM^ 2016^7^: [www.amazon.co.jp/^^fc
5. Alicia Joy. Meet Sayaka Murata: Akutagawa Prize Winner. The Culture Trip, 2016. https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/meet-sayaka-murata-akutagawa-prize-winner/
6. Daisuke Kikuchi. Convenience store worker who moonlights as an author wins prestigious Akutagawa Prize. The Japan Times, 2016. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/20/national/convenience-store-worker-who-moonlights-as-novelist-wins-prestigious-akutagawa-prize/
