Menu Close

Gitte Marianne Hansen

Reader in Japanese Studies, Newcastle University

I have an interest in character construction techniques and story repetition across genre, and in my research I look at diverse fiction, such as Murakami Haruki’s, Kanehara Hitomi’s and Kirino Natsuo’s literary works, as well as Miyazaki Hayao’s animation and artwork by Aida Makoto, among others. My approach is interdisciplinary and I enjoy working thematically.

Currently I am particularly interested in Murakami Haruki. I lead the AHRC funded project, Genderign Murakami Haruki: Characters, Transmedial Productions and Contemporary Japan. The project aims to examine Murakami's literary works in terms of the processes of translation, transmedial production and the gendering of his characters. I am particularly interested in his female characters and their changing position and diverse representation. For more information see my website: Eyes on Murakami: https://research.ncl.ac.uk/murakami/

Outputs related to my Murakami project includes a special issue on Murakami Haruki at Japan Forum Vol 32(3) that I co-edited in 2020 with Dr. Michael Tsang. Together we have also edited the volume Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage to be published with Routledge.

Together with Professor Christopher Jones, I produced the art catalogue, Beyond Words: Transmediating Murakami Haruki, 2018. The catalogue can be viewed here: https://research.ncl.ac.uk/media/sites/researchwebsites/eyesonmurakami/Beyond%20Words%20-%20Transmediating%20Murakami%20Haruki%20(Jones%20&%20Hansen,%202018).pdf
In 2016 I published my first monograph with Routledge: Femininity, Self-harm and Eating Disorders in Japan - Navigating contradiction in narrative and visual culture: https://www.routledge.com/Femininity-Self-harm-and-Eating-Disorders-in-Japan-Navigating-contradiction/Hansen/p/book/9781138905306

Experience

  • –present
    Reader in Japanese Studies, Newcastle University