Haruki Murakami’s Deconstructive Reading of the Myth of Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders in Kafka on the Shore

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how Haruki Murakami reads the real icons of Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders in Kafka on the Shore deconstructively. First, we will focus on the signification process of the icon, which are to a great extent molded by advertisements, and then on the deconstruction of their signifieds. For the purpose, we will apply Barthes’ idea of myth. We are also interested in revealing how Murakami constructs Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders to be characters in the novel. The analysis shows that the construction of the icons through advertisements leads to the creation of their mtyhs, and then Murakami reads them deconstructively to be opposite signifieds.