“The power of stories saved me.” | Writer Sayaka Murata 村田沙耶香 | Louisiana Channel
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- čas přidán 21. 11. 2022
- “When you read a novel, you might find something very true about yourself.” Japanese writer Sayaka Murata shares her thoughts and ideas on using novels as a church, having 30 imaginary friends, and how she uses fragments of her subconscious when writing.
As a child, Sayaka Murata remembers living in an imaginary world: “I didn’t have that much time in reality here on Earth. She explains: “I had about 30 imaginary friends. They lived on a star, and I was always there with them.” Always scared of not fitting in as a kid, she only felt free when writing stories. “My world of daydreams or the power of stories saved me, so I was able to survive. And this same strength is in my protagonists.”
Sayaka Murata sketches out characters for her novels in a notebook. “I feel as if I’m creating an aquarium,” she says and elaborates: “When I do different things, everyone in the aquarium will start to move, and the story unfolds automatically. When this happens, I write it down.” Often, the protagonists of her novels will seem odd compared to the society they live in: “I like people who live with a different kind of ethic,” she says and continues: “In several of my short stories, I imagined such things.” In a short story, human hair can be used for a sweater; in the novel ‘Earthlings,’ the protagonist questions society from a young age - and the same goes for the main character, Keiko, in her famous novel ‘Convenience Store Woman.’ “Gender was irrelevant to my existence as a convenience store employee,” says Murata. “I have been placed in the world, especially in Japanese society, as a tool for writing novels. And the world Is experimenting by putting me in the Japanese context. So, I cut this into pieces and use it as material for my stories.”
“I am like a human laboratory where the feeling of anger is broken.” Murata herself says that she writes very scary and strange stories. ”When I write my stories, there are these boxes deep inside people that you shouldn’t open, but I have always wanted to open them one day.” She describes how she is looking for “something that will be dangerous to put into words.” Murata explains: “The real truth is hidden under a lid and has not yet become words. It’s more than curiosity. It’s something much more serious that I have wanted since my childhood. This wanting to know stimulates me and gives me the energy to write my novels.”
Sayaka Murata (b. 1979) is considered one of contemporary Japanese literature's most striking prose writers. Her big literary breakthrough, ‘Convenience Store Woman,’ sold over one million copies in Japan alone. Irish writer Sally Rooney has called the novel “unsettling and totally unpredictable.” Murata has also published the book ‘Earthlings’ as well as a series of short stories in the collection ‘Life Ceremony.’ Sayaka Murata has won several prizes, including the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, The Mishima Yukio Prinze, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize.
Sayaka Murata was interviewed by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen in Denmark in July 202. The interpreter was Danish translator Mette Holm. She was also filmed in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2022.
Camera: Rasmus Quistgaard (Denmark) and Yudai Maruyama (Japan)
Edited and produced by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2022
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling, and Fritz Hansen.
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"I start by drawing the protagonist of the story."
*Watch Sayaka Murata talk about facing the blank page right here:*
czcams.com/video/Q14r1zH7RwY/video.html
I walked into Waterstones bookshop in Oxford and found a massive display of Convenience Store Woman on a table in the middle of the store. I thought to myself - oh, this is a book that has impressed these booksellers enormously. My hand reached to the top of the stack and took down what was to be the best reading experience that I’d had in many a year. What a gem. What a treasure. What a character. It still sits on my table like an icon of littérature that I will never remove in place of something else. I dust it everyday out of respect for what it is. Now to read the next book by this wonderful person.
i really love how her writing has encouraged me to embrace the parts of humanity that are unspoken and typically induce uncomfortable feelings that have always been present within an individual but not ever properly articulated without shame. she's a mastermind when it comes to capturing the most complex aspects of existence and the emotions we've been incapable of putting words to, or have not had the guts to express.
Her book "Earthlings" really was some bizarre AF story, but she wrote it in such a way that it was impossible to put down. Like watching an impending train wreck
that she wrote to gods, that writing felt sacred, like her prayers to God - is so profound!
This woman’s personality and perspective of herself is very inspiring. What a beautiful soul.
Thank you, Murata is evidence that what society calls weakness is harnessed strength for the individual. Beautiful and touching interview.
What an incredible interview. Thank you for not cutting her off with editing too, every word she speaks is so well thought out and resonated so deeply with me. She’s an exquisite thinker.
“Truth beyond the truth” I love this expression. I can feel the idea reading her stories.
I love her! They should incorporate her drawings in her novels, I always liked how they did that with Vonnegut.
What a reflective interview. I love how she describes her thought and writing processes, the alchemy of imagination and humanness with the feral and the unconscious. It's good to know other people do have these kinds of processes with their imaginations and thoughts.
わかった！村田さん、実は宇宙人だ。
また斬新な作品期待してますね❤
I love this woman so much I can't express it. SHE'S SO SWEET
Only yesterday I heard about Sayaka Murata and she won me over with this interview. Today I’m reading Earthlings and sobbing. I needed her to show up in my life. Thank you.
When I listen to people like her I fall in love with mankind!
The Louisiana channel is one of the most sophisticated channels on the internet! What a relief to be inside! Thanks for running this advanced novel search, Sayaka Murata!
I totally agree. I stumbled on this channel while I was doing research on poetry films and ever since I have watched all of their videos. It’s addictive to watch these amazing people talk about their inner world and it’s interaction with what’s outside the periphery.
What an interesting woman. Would love to spend a couple of hours listening to her.
Reading Earthlings was one of the most disturbing literary experiences I've ever had
I've been waiting for this since the summer!! Thank you so much 😭😭😭😭 I love this woman, her writing resonates with me so much I can't even explain.. Hope she's always happy, healthy and she keeps on writing!🎈
It's rare to feel understood in this way
I've watched this video a few times now. Thank you so much! I read Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings about a year ago and I feel so deeply touched by them. Sayaka is incredible and I deeply resonate with much of what she speaks of. She's an amazing creator and writer, I really hope that her previous works also gets translated to English someday.
I love her. I think her words resonate to me in a special way. Thanks
村田沙耶香が面白くて良い作家です。
ほんとうにほんとうに素敵だ。大好きだ
As I started listening to this interview I thought, wow what an amazing person I must read her stuff. So I searched her name and saw that she wrote Convenience Store Woman which I read a few years ago and liked very much. It was so well crafted and I admired the protagonist very much. I was delighted to know that I already knew of this amazing author and took this as a sign to reconnect with her work so I am borrowing Earthlings from the library and will be reading that too. I can't wait to delve into it!
Love her and her writing! Thank you Louisiana Chanel for bringing such awesome interviews from authors for there aren't really many spaces for them to express their thinking processes behind the art. Sayaka must be the writer with whom I resonated the most. What a lovely, calm and beautiful person ❤
I was not prepared for how wonderful this would be
村田沙耶香さん、美しいです。
Absolutely in love with her style of writing. I'm trying to read her books as slow as I can even though they're quite thin. Already waiting for more, rooting for you.
I love her depth and her search...and her motive! Lovely interview.
Thanku so much for this beautiful interview 💕I hv been wanting to read her books from a long time...Love from India 🇮🇳❤️
Always love to hear what’s the inner thoughts of other artist. We are cut from a very unique stone. She explained her feelings and thoughts so well. Amazing interview. Mahalo Nui Loa for putting this interview together.
Kaimi
Really loved this interview.
本当に素敵な方だ。。。❤
love her, what a queen!
I'm so intrigued by her
I love her
I came back from a trip to Japan a week ago and it happened to come back with one of her books that I bought in bookoff. I am a few pages through コンビニ人間 and I am enjoying it thoroughly! Can't wait to finish this and will definitely check her other stories!
Ahhhh thank you, I've been wanting to read her コンビニ人間
I really REALLY enjoyed this video. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Sayaka. You are a brilliant author and human being ✨️
Whoah.... I am gonna read her works!
Really enjoyed her reading in Seoul. Earthlings is an amazing novel. Life Ceremony was a bit redundant though. Look forward to her next novel. She has beautiful voice.❤
Earthlings is amazing in the same way that a colonoscopy is amazing
@@dustyoldhat maybe it's just not for you then. But for those who understand it's a really beautiful experience to feel understood in return. Reading this book was honestly such a relief. So yeah, this novel is really beautiful.
@@dustyoldhat go read some Colleen Hoover then.
@@sarumadaki So many triggered people who can't accept people with differing opinions round here
@@dustyoldhat if you express yourself the way you do then it's only logical to get those replies back 🤷🏻♂️
村多さんの今回のインタビューものすごくよかったです。自作品期待してます。村さんの考え方凄く共感できました
she's so amazing
Beautiful and inspiring 🖌️
nice video. talented and comptemplative
Love your channel
Excellent. What camera did you film this on. Its well done
👌👌👌
Convenience store in human was read by me
Hi there!🌱🌿🍃🌸
Since you might be interested:
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We can take action now and turn this situation around, and create a significant change. #SaveSoil #ConsciousPlanet #Mentsükatalajt #Tudatosbolygó
I thought it's important to share🌿
Love from Hungary 🌏🌎🌍
地球星人没有简体版本让我难过
She is not so much a writer as a scholar in the humanities who's very good at writing
@@vicke200 literal meaning. I just feel she's like a sholar studying humans and this world
@@yamanakayamda5989 very well put thought, this actually makes so much sense.
you mean a philosopher?
@@kawaiipotatoes7888 More like an anthropologist?
救い主イエスが、あなたが探す「答え」です。
Love Her.
I really enjoyed watching this video, please make more!!! Your content deserves a service like "promosm".