On wabi sabi and the aesthetics of family secrets: Reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the shore

Abstract

Family secrets are commonly considered as a defense mechanism that conceals shameful content and evades guilt. As shame and guilt threaten narcissistic perfection, secrecy functions as a self-protective mechanism by evading acknowledgment of imperfection, thus conceptualizing imperfection as a psychological threat. However, the meaning of perfection and imperfection is culturally grounded, and, therefore, our understanding of family secrets may gain better understanding by examining different cultural perspectives of perfection/imperfection. In this context, we can gain insights to the process of family secrets through wabi sabi, a Japanese aesthetic ideal and philosophy that stresses imperfection as the basis for harmony. In this paper, I suggest an interpretation of family secrets that draws on wabi sabi aesthetics. The paper's main argument is illustrated through a careful reading of Murakami's Kafka on the shore, presenting wabi sabi of family secrets as distinguished aesthetics and a potential source for mental transformation and growth.