1980s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure african-american african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist alienation alternate-reality ambiguity american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature animals assimilation atmospheric betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity black-literature black-power blindness brotherhood chase civil-rights civil-rights-movement coming-of-age conformity consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature cult-classic cultural-assimilation cultural-heritage cultural-identity culture-clash dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian eccentric-characters empowerment enigma enigmatic equality exile existential existentialism fantasy fate fiction folklore freedom friendship harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality injustice introspection introspective invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature jazz jazz-music journey literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loss love love-story magic-realism magical-realism manipulation marginalization metafiction metaphysical metaphysics mind-bending modern modern-fiction modern-literature modernism murakami mysterious mystery mythology narrator nostalgia novel obsession oppression parallel-universe parallel-worlds personal-freedom personal-narrative philosophical philosophy political politics pop-culture postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice protagonist protest psychological quest quirky race race-relations racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-prejudice racial-stereotypes racism ralph-ellison reality rebellion resistance romance satire search-for-meaning segregation self-discovery sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary social-criticism social-equality social-inequality social-injustice social-isolation social-justice societal-expectations society solitude southern-gothic southern-united-states spirituality stereotypes subversion supernatural surreal surrealism suspense symbolic symbolism symbols the-american-dream thriller tokyo transformation translation unconventional underground urban urban-fantasy urban-life white-supremacy