This lecture will discuss the motifs of utopia and dystopia in the works of Sayaka Murata, focusing particularly on the works Satsujin shussan (Birth and Murders, 2014) and Shōmetsu sekai (Vanishing World, 2015). Building on two previous articles (Specchio, 2018 and Specchio, 2020), the lecture will consider the female protagonists' bodies as sites of resistance to the forms of social pressure that rule the two societies depicted in the novels. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s concepts of discipline, punishment, and biopolitics, the lecture will argue that despite being assigned roles that they accept (namely, reproductive roles), thinking these roles might be ‘right,’ in the end, Murata’s female protagonists disobey, revealing their true undisciplined nature.
Biography
Anna Specchio is a Senior Researcher/Assistant Professor (RtdB) of Japanese Language and Literature at the University of Turin. She has translated into Italian the works of Iwaki Kei, Sakuraba Kazuki, Hayashi Mariko, Matsuura Rieko, Kashimada Maki, Yagi Emi, Ono Miyuki, Li Kotomi among others. She has authored several papers and is co-editor for two books, Orizzonti Giapponesi: ricerche, idee, prospettive, and of NipPop: 10 anni di cultura pop giapponese in Italia. She is the editor in charge of the volume 現代女性作家読本第3期21巻・村田沙耶香 (Gendai josei sakka tokuhon dai 3 ki 21 maki. Murata Sayaka), Tōkyō: Kanae shōbo. Anna is also a member of the PRIN2022 project: ‘Getting ready for the present: new global dystopian imaginaries and public engagement. Transcultural and transmedial dialogues between Japanese, Latin American, British, and Anglo-American cultures’ (Project Code: 2022ZTES8N_001; CUP: J53D23013720006).