After finishing a BA in Japanese Studies and a MA in East Asia Studies from the University of Copenhagen, I studied and worked in Japan for five years as a teaching and research assistant to Professor Kato Norihiro at Waseda University. I then returned to Europe to undertake my PhD research at the University of Cambridge where I held a Gates Cambridge Trust scholarship. I joined the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle University in 2013.

In my research and teaching I look at contemporary Japanese culture and literature. I lead an AHRC funded project on Murakami Haruki (February 2017- July 2018) https://research.ncl.ac.uk/murakami/.

Office:

Old Library Building 5.36

Office hours:

Tuesday 13:45-14:45 & Thursday 13:45-15:45 (semester 1)

Role

Degree Programme Director for single honors Japanese and Chinese (TT12)

Affiliations

Guest Researcher, Nordic Institute of Asian studies, University of Copenhagen

Adjunct Researcher, Gender Studies Institute, Waseda University

External roles:

Committee member British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS)

External examiner at Danish national universities

Current Research

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

Research Interests

Contemporary Japanese literature, manga, anime, artwork, pop-culture, gender studies, feminist theory, normativity, eating disorders, self-harm, violence, character construction theory, Murakami Haruki.

Graduate Students

I welcome MA and PhD students who are interested in contemporary Japanese literature and other cultural forms such as manga, visual arts and TV drama and/or topics related to contemporary Japanese society such as gender and normativity. I very much encourage projects with an interdisciplinary approach.

Literary and cultural expression in contemporary Japan (JPN4006)

In this final year module we read authors such as Murakami Haruki, Yoshimoto Banana and Kanehara Hitomi in English with the purpose of understanding the meaning of the text from the perspective of contemporary Japanese society and contemporary Japanese cultural criticism. While the main focus is on literary works we also examine other cultural expressions such as film, anime or manga.

Contemporary Japanese popular culture (JPN2004)

While considering what cultural forms can be considered pop, in this module we study a range of Japanese popular culture such as manga, anime, TV drama and film.

Introduction to Japanese history and culture (JPN1005)

I teach the second half (semester 2) of this introductory module. The focus is on contemporary Japan--its culture and society. This module forms a foundation for all other modules offered on Japan.

Japanese language level C (JPN 4001)

In addition to textbook materials, in this module we read original literary texts by for example Murakami Haruki and articles published for a Japanese audience. 

• Hansen GM, Tsang M, ed. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London and New York: Routledge, 2022.
• Hansen GM. Murakami’s First-person Narrators and Female Character Construction. In: Hansen GM; Tsang T, ed. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London and New York: Routledge, 2022.
• Hansen GM. Preface. In: Hansen GM; Tsang M, ed. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London: Routledge, 2022.
• Hansen GM, Tsang M. Yes, Murakami Haruki is a Challenge. In: Hansen GM; Tsang M, ed. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. London: Routledge, 2022.
• Hansen GM. Haruki Murakami – storytelling and productive distance by Chikako Nihei. Asian Studies Review 2021, epub ahead of print.
• Hansen GM, Tsang M. 40 Years with Murakami Haruki. Japan Forum 2020, 32, 311-315.
• Hansen GM, Tsang M. Katō Norihiro, introduction and tribute by issue editors. Japan Forum 2020.
• Hansen GM, Tsang M. Politics in/of Transmediality in Murakami Haruki’s Bakery Attack Stories. Japan Forum 2020, 32(3), 404-431.
• Hansen GM. 日本語では最後、英語では最初の、加藤典洋による村上春樹論. すばる 2020, 1, 202-203.
• Hansen GM. Old Catoへ. すばる 2019, 8, 226-227.
• Fujimoto A, Hansen G, Jones C, MacRae A, Szeman P, Quin J, Yuasa K. Beyond Words: Transmediating Murakami Haruki. 2018. Fine Art, Newcastle University: Long Gallery & Atrium, 17.
• Hansen GM, Jones C, ed. Beyond Words: Transmediating Murakami Haruki. Gitte Marianne Hansen, 2018.
• Hansen GM. Not Just Asleep, Dead or Muted: Images of Women in Murakami Haruki. The Japan Society Proceedings 2017, 154, 122-137.
• Hansen GM. The Forbidden World of Murakami Haruki by Matthew Strecher. Japan Forum 2017, 31(1), 134-136.
• Hansen GM. Femininity, Self-harm and Eating Disorders in Japan: Navigating contradiction in narrative and visual culture. Oxon: Routledge, 2016.
• ハンセン ギッテ. 村上春樹における女の語り. シンフォニカ 2016, vol. 2, Autumn, 4-25.
• Hansen GM. Mere end nuttet: Femininitet, paradoks og dobbeltgængermotiv motiv i Japansk kultur. Kritik 2015, 215, 29-39.
• Yūko T, Hansen GM (trans.). Kid sister [Tsushima Jūko, Imōto, 1999]. New York: Words without Borders, 2012. Available at: http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/kid-sister.
• Hansen GM. A female serial killer’s literary roots: Murakami Haruki, 1Q84 and Aomame. AsiaPortal, 2011. Available at: http://infocus.asiaportal.info/2011/09/19/a-female-serial-killer%E2%80%99s-literary-roots-murakami-haruki-1q84-and-aomame/.
• Hansen GM. Away from home when disaster strikes : Diary from a UK-based Japanese community after the Tohoku catastrophe. AsiaPortal, 2011. Available at: http://infocus.asiaportal.info/2011/03/29/blogsin-focus2011marchaway-home-when-disaster-strikes/.
• Hansen GM. Eating disorders and self-harm in Japanese culture and cultural expressions. Contemporary Japan 2011, 23(1), 49-69.
• Hansen GH. Murakami Haruki’s Female Narratives—Ignored works show awareness of women’s issues. Japan Studies Association Journal 2010, 8, 229-238.
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