Spatial Form And Self-reconstruction Embodied In Kazuo Ishiguro’s Memory Narrative

Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-), Japanese-English novelist, has built up great fame inthe English-speaking world with his prose language and acute grasp of the subtlety ofdifferent characters’ psychology. With intercultural communication on the rise, moreand more immigrant writers have made their appearance in modern literary realm withsparkling achievements. Ishiguro’s works, however, are not typical cross-culturewritings, but rather permeated with humanistic concerns for powerless small figuresin face of common predicament. Without any exception, six novels Ishiguro haspublished to date all adopt the same first-person narrative form colored with strongfeatures of memory. Interwoven time and juxtaposed spaces not only intensify theunreliability of the text based on memories but also involve more of the reader’sparticipation. Furthermore, memory mechanism appears to be a best way for thetraumatized narrator to relocate him-/herself and at last regain the lost sense of self.This thesis conducts a systematic study of Ishiguro’s works from threeperspectives, the geographical space, text space and the reconstruction of selfembodied in space worlds. Three novels representing the writer’s different creatingphases are involved in the discussion of this thesis. Narrative theory, space theory andideas about sense of self are adopted in the analysis of features characterizing memorynarrative with the primary concern focusing on the aspect of space. It also probes intothe writer’s humanistic concern via the slight changes in terms of geographical settingand main theme of three novels.The first chapter mainly discusses the geographical spaces presented to thereader with a retrospective tone in three novels and the feeling of pathos and lossechoing in each space. It also points out that neither Japan nor England underIshiguro’s pen is a realistic version. The writer’s placing of each space is notnecessarily correspondent with historical reality, but merely out of his needs inwriting. Ishiguro never attires himself as a spokesman for a certain culture but ratherfor the vulnerability and pathos of those small figures. The second chapter focuses on the analysis of textual spaces woven by memoriallanguage. Impressionistic visual space, musicality embodied in audio space as well asthe collage of space fragments are involved in the discussion of this part. Ishiguro’sfrequent addressing of color, especially light and shadow is interpreted as a way ofindicating the character’s mind of state. And the strategic arrangement of differentspaces is of great importance in revealing to the reader the narrator’s “untold truth”.On the basis of first two chapters, the last part of this thesis delves into therelation between space existence and self-reconstruction of the narrator. The narrator’sself is first differentiated as narrating self, experiencing self and projected self or the“possible”. The process of criticizing, rejection and acceptance entitles the narrator’san opportunity to reconstruct his/her traumatized self.Apart from the same narrative strategy, Ishiguro’s novels take on anothercommon feature that is the open ending. Unfolded narrative line and the unsolvedtension of the text largely raise the reader’s expectation and eagerness forparticipation. Furthermore, the freedom of mentioning any point back in the pastenabled by memory narrative generates various space impressions and ensures morecommunicative spaces between reader and the author in an open text.