Strecher Matthew Carl

(STRECHER C MATTHEW)

Profile Information

Affiliation: Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Department of Liberal Arts, Sophia University

Degree: B.A.(Univ. of Texas)
M.A.(Univ. of Texas)
Ph.D.(Univ. of Washington)

J-GLOBAL ID: 201501021282332365
researchmap Member ID: 7000013449

Contemporary Japanese literature
Murakami Haruki and global literature
genre studies
literary journalism

Research Interests

Research Areas

Humanities & social sciences / Literature - Japanese /

Books and Other Publications

"A Very Philosophical Murakami" in Haruki Murakami and Philosophical Concepts

Matthew C. Strecher (contributor, Joseph Milburn (edi

Palgrave/MacMillan, Jun, 2025 (ISBN: 9783031896453) Refereed

A collection of short essays on the writing of Murakami Haruki and philosophy.
"Murakami Haruki: The Power of the Story." In Angela Yiu, ed., Literature in Heisei Japan 1989-2019, pp. 68-85

Sophia University Press, Jan, 2024
"Solidarity" in Murakami Haruki Literature: Toward a global literature restoration

Matthew Strecher

Tamkang University Press, Jun, 2023 (ISBN: 9786267032459) Refereed
"Rebels With A Cause: A Cosmopolitan Examination of Haruki Murakami and Kazuo Ishiguro." In Statu Nascendi 5.1 (April 2022), pp. 28-43.

Strecher, Matthew, Wakatsuki, Tomoki (Role: Joint author, Contributor)

In Statu Nascendi, Apr, 2022
Seeking the Living Among the Dead: The Other World of Murakami Haruki, In Statu Nascendi 5.1 (April 2022), pp. 175-185

Strecher, Matthew

In Statu Nascendi, Apr, 2022
"A False Peace: Literature in the Heisei Era" in Japan in the Heisei Era (1989-2019): Multidisciplinary Perspectives, pp. 261-271

Matthew C. Strecher

Routledge, Feb, 2022 (ISBN: 9780367221652) Refereed

A book chapter on the development of literature in the Heisei era (1989-2019)
Book Review: Rebecca Suter's Two-World Literature: Kazuo Ishiguro's Early Novels, in Monumenta Nipponica 77.1, pp. 182-187.

Strecher, Matthew

Monumenta Nipponica, Jan, 2022
"The Enchanted Void: Minding the Gap in Kawakami Hiromi," co-authored with Mina Qiao, in Qiao, Mina, ed., Into the fantastical spaces of contemporary Japanese literature

Strecher, Matthew, Qiao, Mina (Role: Contributor, Co-author of "The Enchanted Void: Minding the Gap in Kawakami Hiromi," pp. 163-190.)

Lexington Books, 2022 (ISBN: 9781793646125)
The Layered Everyspace in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki in Qiao, Mina, ed., Into the Fantastical Spaces of Contemporary Japanese Literature

Strecher, Matthew (Role: Contributor, Author of "The Layered Everyspace in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki" (pp. 15-30))

Lexington Books, 2022 (ISBN: 9781793646125)
"History and metaphysical narrative space." In Gitte Hansen and Michael Tseng, eds., Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London: Routledge, pp. 23-50

Matthew C. Strecher

Routledge, 2021 Refereed
Dances With Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki (2020, republished as open-source eBook through NEH grant by Michigan Books)

Matthew C. Strecher

Michigan Books, May, 2020 (ISBN: 9780472902026) Refereed

This is a republication of my 2002 monograph, Dances With Sheep. It was republished under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program, intended to preserve important scholarly texts. Copyright purchased by Michigan Books.
Foreword: Breaking down the wall of Japanese literature. In Tomoki Wakatsuki, The Haruki Phenomenon: Haruki Murakami as Cosmopolitan Writer. Singapore: Springer, pp. v-viii

Wakatsuki, Tomoki, Strecher, Matthew

Springer, Apr, 2020
"Out of the (B)earth canal: the mythic journey in Murakami Haruki" in Japan Forum 32.3, pp. 338-360

Matthew C. Strecher

Routledge, Feb, 2020 Refereed

A description of mythic journey elements in recent fiction by Murakami Haruki
"Resonance in Murakami Haruki Fiction: Killing Commendatore and the Sacred Journey"

Strecher, Matthew, Tseng Chiu-kuei, Numano Mitsuyoshi (Role: Contributor, Sole author of "Resonance in Murakami Haruki Fiction: Killing Commendatore and the Sacred Journey")

Tamkang University Press, May, 2019
Murakami Haruki’s “charm” and the “empty narrative.” In Tseng Chiu-kuei and Numano Mitsuyoshi, eds., Murakami Haruki ni okeru miwaku [Charm in Murakami Haruki]. Taipei: Tamkang University Press, pp. 1-18

Strecher, Matthew, Tseng, Chiu-kuei, Numano, Mitsuyoshi (Role: Contributor, Sole Author of Murakami Haruki’s “charm” and the “empty narrative.” In Tseng Chiu-kuei and Numano Mitsuyoshi, eds., Murakami Haruki ni okeru miwaku [Charm in Murakami Haruki]. Taipei: Tamkang University Press, pp. 1-18)

May, 2018
Murakami Haruki bungaku ni okeru isekai no kōzō to “tamashii”; The Other World in Murakami Haruki Literature—Structure and the “Soul”). In Tseng Chiu-kuei and Numano Mitsuyoshi, eds., Murakami Haruki ni okeru chitsujo (Order in Murakami Haruki). Taipei: Tamkang University Press, pp. 87-104

Strecher, Matthew, Tseng Chiu-kuei, Numano Mitsuyoshi (Role: Contributor, Sole author of Murakami Haruki bungaku ni okeru isekai no kōzō to “tamashii”; The Other World in Murakami Haruki Literature—Structure and the “Soul”). In Tseng Chiu-kuei and Numano Mitsuyoshi, eds., Murakami Haruki ni okeru chitsujo (Order in Murakami Haruki). Taipei: Tamkang University Press, pp. 87-104)

Tamkang University Press, May, 2017
"The celebrity of Haruki Murakami and the ‘empty narrative’: A new model for the age of global literature" in Celebrity Studies, pp. 1-8

Matthew C. Strecher

Routledge, Mar, 2017 Refereed
"East Meets West, and then gives it back: Reinventing Japanese literature in the contemporary age," in perspektywy kultury [Perspectives in Culture] No. 19, pp. 53-80.

Matthew C. Strecher

Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie, 2017
Challenging Authors: Murakami Haruki

Strecher Matthew Carl (Role: Joint editor)

Sense Publishers, 2016 (ISBN: 9789463004602)
America ni okeru gendai Nihon bungaku kenkyū; Studies in Japanese contemporary literature in the United States. In Nihon Kindai Bungaku No. 92, pp. 167-175

Matthew Strecher

日本近代文学第９２号, May, 2015
Book chapter: Muishiki to shinwa no kokoro: Murakami Haruki no sakuhin ni okeru baransu no mondai. In Sekai bungaku to shite no Murakami Haruki, pp. 33-56

Matthew Strecher (Role: Contributor, Contributor)

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Press, Apr, 2015 Refereed
The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami

Strecher Matthew Carl

University of Minnesota Press, 2014 (ISBN: 9780816691982)
“At the Critical Stage: A Report on the State of Murakami Haruki Studies.” Literature Compass 8:11 (November), 856-869

Matthew C. Strecher

Wiley, Nov, 2011 Refereed
“(R)evolution in the Land of the Lonely: Murakami Ryū and the Project to Overcome Modernity.” In Japanese Studies 28:3 (Dec.), pp. 329-344

Matthew C. Strecher

Routledge, Dec, 2008 Refereed
“Who’s Afraid of Takahashi O-Den? ‘Poison Woman’ Stories and Literary Journalism in Early Meiji Japan.” In Journal of Japanese Language and Literature 38:2 (Spring). 25-55.

Matthew C. Strecher

Association of Teachers of Japanese (ATJ), Apr, 2004 Refereed
Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Reader's Guide

Strecher Matthew Carl

Continuum Publishers, LTD., 2002 (ISBN: 0826452396)
Dances With Sheep: The Quest for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki

Strecher Matthew Carl

The Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan Press, 2002 (ISBN: 1929280076) Refereed
“Magical Realism and the Search for Identity in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki.” In The Journal of Japanese Studies 25:2 (Summer), 263-298

Matthew C. Strecher

Society for Japanese Studies, Jun, 1999 Refereed
“Beyond ‘Pure’ Literature: Mimesis, Formula, and the Postmodern in the Fiction of Murakami Haruki.” In The Journal of Asian Studies 57:2 (May), 354-378

Matthew C. Strecher

Association for Asian Studies (AAS), May, 1998 Refereed
“Murakami Haruki: Japan’s Coolest Writer Heats Up.” In Japan Quarterly 45:1 (Jan.-Mar.), 61-69

Matthew C. Strecher

Asahi Shimbun, Mar, 1998
“Purely Mass, or Massively Pure? The Division Between ‘Pure’ and ‘Mass’ Literature.” In Monumenta Nipponica 51:3 (Autumn), pp. 357-374

Matthew C. Strecher

Monumenta Nipponica, Oct, 1996 Refereed

Presentations

Surrealism and the Unconscious in Modern Japanese Literature

Matthew Strecher

Tōyō University Graduate Program in Psychology, Nov 21, 2022 Invited
Panel Chair: Issues in Contemporary Japanese Literature

Matthew Strecher

Asian Studies Conference Japan, Jul 2, 2022
Keynote speech: "Solidarity" in Murakami Haruki Literature

Matthew Strecher

Eleventh Annual Murakami Haruki International Symposium, Jun 18, 2022 Invited
Three Lectures on Murakami Haruki

Matthew Strecher

Palaký University Lecture Series, Palaký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, Palaký University Invited

Three 90-minute lectures delivered on December 7, 8 and 9 to an online audience of students, graduate students, and faculty at Palaký University.

Teaching Experience

Sep, 2015 - Present

Japanese Literature (Sophia University)
Aug, 2007 - Jul, 2015

Japanese language and culture (Winona State University)
Oct, 2000 - Jul, 2007

English, English literature, Japanese literature (Toyo University)
Aug, 1999 - Jul, 2000

Japanese language and literature (Northern Illinois University)
Jun, 1995 - Jul, 1999

Japanese language and literature (University of Montana)

Professional Memberships

Jul, 2016 - Present

Asian Studies Conference Japan
Jun, 1995 - Present

Association for Asian Studies

Academic Activities

President, Asian Studies Conference Japan

Others

Asian Studies Conference Japan, Aug 15, 2022 - Present
Executive Board, Asian Studies Conference Japan

Others

2016 - Present

Social Activities

The Fiction of Murakami Haruki

Guest

Guest lecture at the K International School Tokyo (KIST), Jun 2, 2023

Media Coverage

Japan's Oscar-nominated 'Drive My Car' is a journey through loss, grief and art

National Public Radio (NPR), National Public Radio (NPR), Washington, DC, U.S.A., Feb 11, 2022 TV or radio program

A 6-minute segment from National Public Radio discussion the four Oscar nominations for the film Drive My Car. I was interviewed by NPR reporter Anthony Kuhn. The spot ran from around 6:00 a.m. EST and throughout the day.
The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami: An Interview With Matthew Carl Strecher

New Books Network, New Books in Japanese Studies, Brussels, Belgium, Jun 14, 2021 Internet

A 90-minute interview conducted by Takeshi Morisato, anchor of podcast "New Books in Japanese Studies."

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