Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Satire as a distinct genre in Japanese literature is essentially utilized by H. Murakami and Akutagawa Ryunosuke to express the absurdities of life, isolation, and lack of communication in modern and postmodern societies. This study provides a thought-provoking introduction to this genre; it aims to investigate Japanese satires, both as a literary phenomenon and as a symbolic social activity in short story writing. To fulfill the study’s aims, Simpson’s (2003) stylistic model of satirical humor is used to analyze the features of this genre in the literary works of Murakami and Ryunosuke. The study is significant as it demonstrates how Japanese short story writers have reacted to some of the worst disasters in modern and postmodern times and to readers, academics and scholars who wish to know more about Japan’s unique brand of satirical humor in times of distress via fiction.