本文選取村上春樹作為探討戰後日本個人主義的研究對象,其檢視了村上春樹自1979年發表第一篇小說以來包含長、短篇小說、乃至散文隨筆各作品,以及形諸文字的訪談紀錄等,指出自由/自主性、想像力、記憶與歷史、日本與責任及愛與連帶等五項能代表其個人主義或所塑造個人形象之元素與特質,並與西方及日本其他思想家三方共同比較,指出其間異同:和其他日本思想家一樣,都具有偏向集體性的元素,但無論在偏向個人性或集體性的元素上,均呈現出個人性強於其他日本思想家的特徵。本文嘗試提出造成此等差異之時代性解釋,並藉著將其展現出的弱集體性與保守主義作出區隔,對村上春樹的情況做出定位,也闡明真正的個人主義之核心所在。
The study chooses Haruki Murakami as an approach to probe into the individualism expressed in postwar Japan. It investigates the texts of Haruki Murakami since he made his debut in 1979, and indicates the five elements and characteristics that represent his individualism and images of the individual, including liberty, imagination, memory and history, Japan and responsibility, love and connection. In comparison with the individualism of western and other Japanese thinkers, that of Murakami and Japanese thinkers alike contains elements that tend to express more collectiveness, while the former shows stronger tendency of individuality in both individualistic and collective elements than the latter. The study attempts to point out the contextual basis to explain this difference. In the end it differentiates between the collectiveness implied by Murakami and that of Conservatism. Through this process it positions Haruki Murakami’s thinking and clarifies the core of individualism.