In today’s presentation, David and Laura spoke about the themes of xenophobia and imperialism explored in the book of short stories “The Elephant Vanishes” written by Haruki Murakami. I thought it was incredibly interesting the way that they tied back the protagonists and their vulnerability, lack of agency, and isolation to Japan and what it went through as a culture leading up to World War II. They also spoke of Japanese culture and whether or not these stories served as a commentary about Japan being invaded and forced to change it’s technology, essentially “catching up with the rest of the world”. The vulnerability that Japan experienced after the Meiji restoration (the isolation from the rest of the world) and the invasion of Western and
