Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

ISSN: 2278-9529  |  www.galaxyimrj.com

Abstract

The aim of the research paper is to analyse the construction of identity as a fragmented and unfinished process in the novel, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, one of the famous works of Murakami. The main focus of the study lies in how the novel engages with the conceptual structure of “et cetera”, that acts as a space of incompletion, remainder and absence. The research explains that the “colorless” identity of Tsukuru is a constitutive condition of postmodern subjectivity, which is further determined by unresolved relational histories, narrative gaps, and memory disruptions. This means the identity of Tsukuru is not a lack to be resolved. The paper focuses on the qualitative textual analysis of the novel within the framework of postmodern theories. For this, the study takes the help of one of the renowned postmodern thinkers, Jean-François Lyotard, to interpret and study Tsukuru’s fractured sense of self that develops due to the collapse of coherent life narratives. Apart from that, the paper also uses the concept of simulation and simulacra, proposed by another famous postmodern thinker, Jean Baudrillard, to understand the surface-level and constructed identity of the protagonist that lacks origin or stable depth.
Additionally, the paper aligns with the concepts proposed by Linda Hutcheon to highlight the open-ended structure of the novel, as well as to focus on the resistance of the novel to closure and how it embraces contradiction and ambiguity. The main observation of the paper lies in the fact that the novel depicts the emergence of identity through absence, instead of presence, which is further incorporated by what remains deferred, unsaid and excluded. The journey of Tsukuru, the protagonist, is not stable in the novel; it does not culminate in a unified self. Through the journey of Tsukuru, the novel highlights that identity is an ongoing negotiation. Incomplete narratives and partial memories influence identity. This perfectly aligns with the broader concept of postmodernism, as it believes that subjectivity remains in flux, and meaning is forever postponed. The study benefits scholars, researchers and academicians interested in postmodern theory, cultural studies, narrative, subjectivity, and aesthetics of the unfinished. In other words, the research paper contributes to cultural discourse and contemporary literary discourse by highlighting the significance of fragmentation and incompletion in order to understand the formation of modern identities. The paper focuses on the productive potential of remainder and absence to rethink identity beyond the boundaries of coherence and closure. Therefore, it situates the novel within the conceptual terrain of “et cetera”.

Keywords

Fragmentation Absence & Memory Subjectivity Postmodern Identity Narrative Incompletion

Article History

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How to Cite

Panda, Ankita Akankhya, and Vidya Nagre. “The Theme of Incompletion and Absence: Fragmentation and Reframing Identity in Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.” Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, vol. 15, no. 5, Sept. 2026, pp. 204–228. https://doi.org/10.66376/galaxy.v15.n5.12

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