Power, Gaze, and Gender: A Comparative Analysis of the Male and Female Gaze in 1Q84, Out, and Convenience Store Woman

Abstract

This dissertation offers a comparative feminist and gynocritical analysis of the male and female gaze in three contemporary Japanese novels: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Out by Natsuo Kirino, and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Using Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze as a foundational framework, this study examines how narrative perspective and gendered representation either undermine or reinforce female subjectivity and agency. In the first chapter, 1Q84 is analyzed through Gérard Genette’s theory of zero focalization to argue that Murakami constructs an omniscient narrative voice that reinforces a male gaze. This narrative technique removes the interiority of the female characters and renders them as objects within the male protagonist’s world. In contrast, the second chapter explores how Kirino’s Out employs a female gaze to depict the intersecting social and structural oppressions experienced by its four female protagonists. Drawing on Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory, this chapter shows how Kirino reclaims the agency of marginalized women by narrating their struggles and resistance. The final chapter turns to Convenience Store Woman, where Sayaka Murata subverts heteronormative expectations by offering her protagonist performative freedom. Using Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, this chapter argues that Murata’s use of the female gaze allows for the restoration of female subjectivity outside patriarchal norms. Overall, through feminist lenses, this research aims to exhibit how narrative perspective and authorial gaze shape the possibilities of female empowerment and resistance in modern Japanese literature.