Deconstruction of New Individualism Through After Dark by Haruki Murakami

Abstract

In the postmodern world, capitalism promotes extreme individualistic norms under the name of development. New Individualism theory highlights the main issues caused by globalization which helped capitalist system enlarge all over the world. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate that the new individualistic values are imposed on the postmodern individual. The study at hand is conducted to help developing societies conceptualize new individualistic norms to prevent the deconstruction of social structure. The presented qualitative research was conducted through the analysis of Murakami’s After Dark and Elliott and Lemert’s theory of New Individualism. The study showcased that the early 2000s individuals do not maintain new individualistic values, but rather, they are imposed on them.