An Comparison of Indigenous and Epistemological Perspectives of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and Haruki Murakami’s Select Novels

Abstract

This research paper explores and compares the indigenous and epistemological perspectives of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and Haruki Murakami’s selects novels. It also examines the authors’ integrate indigenous ways of knowing and a holistic understanding of the world through the themes of nature, dreams, spirituality, and bodily transformation. The Vegetarian dredges into the rejection of societal norms through a return to nature and transformation. Murakami’s novels depict mystical experiences that align with indigenous epistemologies. By analyzing these works through the lens of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), this paper highlights the subversion of dominant western knowledge systems and the reclamation of alternative, ancestral forms of wisdom.