A Study Of The Memory Dilemma And Identities In The Buried Giant

Kazuo Ishiguro,the 2017 Nobel Prize winner for literature,shows a keen interest in memory writing.Published in 2015,The Buried Giant is centered on the memory in the form of fable.Utilizing memory theories of Aleida Assmann,Avishai Margalit and Paul Ricoeur,this thesis discusses the memory dilemmas of the main characters and its relation with the identities,and then further explores Kazuo Ishiguro's attitudes toward the past and the solutions to the memory dilemmas.Firstly,the thesis discusses the relationship between memory dilemma and the national identities of the Britons and the Saxons.The collective amnesia manipulated by the Britons blurs the identity of Britons as perpetrators and Saxons as victims.Though the memory of the violent events can be repressed,they cannot be eliminated.The victims' remembrance which would lead to revenge brings two sides into the vicious circle of violence.Perpetrators face the past and assume the responsibility for their atrocities.Meanwhile,seeking forgiveness from the victims makes national reconciliation possible.Secondly,the thesis explores the relationship between memory dilemma and family identities.Influenced by the collective amnesia,Axl and Beatrice forget their traumatic experiences in the past,which helps them to restore their harmonious relationship.However,amnesia also strips them of the familial identity sustained by memory.The traumatic memory traps them into the dilemma of remembering and forgetting.Facing the memory dilemma,the couple finally admit the fact that their son is dead.Through remembering and lamenting for their son,the couple assumes the responsibility for their own faults.Finally,this thesis analyzes the relationship between memory dilemma and the individual's self-identity represented by Gawain.Gawain devotes his whole life to the pursuit of glory,but he overlooks his inner need as an independent individual.He indulges himself in the identity as the knight of King Arthur.Yet,he deliberately evades the massacre ordered by King Arthur when he recollects his accomplishments.Gawain first circumvents,then denies and eventually confesses in the process of his recollection of the past.Through introspecting on the massacre,he finally acknowledges his crime and reconciles with himself.In general,Ishiguro presents the memory dilemmas of the nations,family members and the individual through an Arthurian fable.According to Ishiguro,only if people face the past and take their responsibility can they get forgiveness and reconciliation.