A Study Of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains Of The Day From The Perspective Of Trauma Theory

Kazuo Ishiguro is a famous Japanese-English writer who has been praised as one of the "three literary giants of immigrant background" in English literature. Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpiece, The Remains of the Day, is published in 1988 and wins the 1989 Booker Prize, the highest literary honor of English literature. Current researches on his novel The Remains of The Day are mainly from the perspective of narrative, new historicism, post-colonialism, cultural studies. Studies on the themes of the novel include lack of identity, nostalgia, crisis, etc. Based on close reading of the text and careful study of a lot of literature and the trauma theory of Judith Herman and Neil J. Smelser, this thesis tries to analyze the psychological and cultural trauma presented in the novel.The first part analyzes the symptoms of the protagonist’s psychological and cultural trauma. The symptoms of psychological trauma include disconnection, emotional barrier, blind worship of authority and repression. The symptoms of cultural trauma mainly contain the loss of cultural identity and the scapegoating effect. The second part discusses the main causes of Stevens’ psychological. They are the family environment and the pursuit of distorted dignity and greatness. The causes of cultural trauma include World War II and isolation from the surroundings. The outbreak of World War Ⅱ destroys Stevens’pursuit and aspirations. The new political and cultural structure after the war makes Stevens and the imperial adherents whom he represents face with the destruction of cultural identity, and the isolation from the society deepens the cultural trauma. The third part discusses Stevens’ recovery on the basis of Herman’s trauma recovery stages. Stevens goes through the stage of confessing the traumatic past and reconnection to seek cultural and social integration. Based on the analysis of the psychological and cultural trauma of the novel, this thesis draws the following conclusion:Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day not only shows readers the tragic life of a British butler, but also presents a detailed description of the symptoms and causes of psychological and cultural trauma, as well as the protagonist’s attempt to recover the trauma. The novel also reveals concerns for the psychological trauma and cultural conflict in modern society, and the author’s exploration of a way to get out of trauma and seek cultural integration.